Cameroon and Chad gear up against Boko Haram

The terrorist group Boko Haram still has more than 200 girls in their custody. To prevent a further spill over, Cameroon and Chad have sent military to the border region in a bid to stop the extremists.

The northern area of Cameroon is no longer safe. The mountainous region between Nigeria and Chad has become a refuge for Boko Haram. In order to protect itself from further attacks, Cameroon has stationed around 1,000 soldiers and armoured vehicles at the border with Nigeria.

When searching for the Islamists, the army has to rely on information from the public, says General Didier Badjeck, spokesperson for the Cameroonian military. "We need total collaboration from the public. This will encourage us in the field to know exactly that people are thinking about us and are supporting their defense forces."

Nigeria's government has repeatedly criticized Cameroon and other neighboring countries for not doing enough to fight terror.

Around three million people live in the affected area in northern Cameroon. In addition to that, 30,000 people have fled across the border from Nigeria to Cameroon since the terror began.

United against terror

Even Chad has soldiers stationed at the border, says Cameroon's Defense Minister, Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo'o. He and his Chadian counterpart Benaindo Tatola recently met in Yaounde. Military forces from both sides are to fight Boko Haram on Nigerian soil - together with Nigerian troops.

The issue to deploy troops was agreed upon last Thursday (22.05.2014) by Chad's President Idriss Deby and Cameroon's head of state, Paul Biya. It is the first concrete action since the Anti-Terrorism Summit in Paris. In mid-May, France, Nigeria and its neghboring countries, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin, decided upon a plan to fight the Islamists. They agreed to strengthen the exchange of information amongst intelligence agencies, coordinate actions of the African military and control borders within Africa.