Chad soldiers and tanks arrive in Cameroon to fight militants

Africa, News January 18, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

A convoy of about 400 Chadian tanks, with hundreds of Chadian troops, has arrived in neighboring Cameroon to help fight Nigeria’s Boko Haram militants.

Thousands of residents in Cameroon’s border town of Kousseri welcomed the soldiers who were deployed to recapture the town of Baga, bordering Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon.

Chadian President Idriss Deby had said in a speech, “Cameroon must not be left alone to face this threat that has so hurt innocent people in Cameroon and in Nigeria,” adding that “We cannot remain indifferent to what happens to our neighbors.”

The troops left Chad following the country’s parliament vote for the deployment of armed forces to Cameroon and Nigeria to combat the terrorists.

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya had announced on January 15 that neighboring Chad was going to send military forces to help Cameroonian forces fight the Boko Haram militants.

On January 12, the Cameroonian army killed 143 Boko Haram militants as they mounted an offensive on a military camp in the northern town of Kolofata, located approximately 840 kilometers (521 miles) northeast of the capital, Yaounde.

Cameroon also launched airstrikes against Boko Haram on December 28, after nearly 1,000 militants from the group assaulted a military camp located near the northern border. The Cameroonian troops in the camp were forced to flee. However, the base was retaken later.

Since last May, when President Biya declared war on Boko Haram, thousands of Cameroonian troops have been deployed to defend the Far North Region.

Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” aims to overthrow the government in Nigeria.

MIS/NN/AS