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Africa Subsaharan | |||
Chad Votes to Send Troops to Fight Boko Haram, Army Vehicles Head for Cameroon | |||
2015-01-17 | |||
[AnNahar]. Chad's parliament voted Friday to send armed forces to Cameroon ...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there... and Nigeria to fight Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... a day after President Idriss Deby Itno announced his intention to join the fight against the Islamists. Chad's parliament in NDjamena voted 150 to 0 to send an unspecified number of "Chadian armed troops and security forces to assist Cameroonian and Nigerian soldiers waging war against the Dozens of Chadian tanks headed out of the capital Friday south towards Cameroon to help fight Nigeria's dreaded Boko Haram holy warriors. The convoy seen by an AFP journalist roared out of the city after Chad's parliament voted to send armed forces to Cameroon and Nigeria to fight against the Islamists. Cameroon's President Paul Biya had announced Thursday that Chad President Idriss Deby had decided to send "a substantial contingent" of troops to help Cameroonian armed forces who have faced repeated attacks from Boko Haram. A source close to the army said the force had begun preparing for departure on Thursday. Boko Haram is fighting to create a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... along the border with Chad, Cameroon and Niger. Cameroon has been critical of the passivity of the Nigerian authorities and the international community in the face of Boko Haram aggression. Since Boko Haram's insurgency began, around 135,000 people have fled the restive northeast of Nigeria country and at least 850,000 have been displaced inside the region. So far Chad has been spared, but only a narrow strip of land separate it from the Islamists' headquarters in the Nigerian state of Borno.
Tens of thousands of people rallied in the capital of Chad on Saturday in support of the authorities' decision to send troops to fight Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists.
A large banner read: "We support our army. The people of Chad support their Cameroonian and Nigerian brothers in the fight against terrorism." "Today's march is a strong signal, a warning to Boko Haram and above all a march for peace to protect our vital interests, to protect our economy, to protect Chad's security," Deubet said. "The country is seriously threatened by Boko Haram," said Ouchar Tourguidi, head of the main party in parliament, calling the rally "important for boosting morale of our troops who are going to the front." | |||
Posted by:trailing wife |
#2 So far Chad has been spared, but only a narrow strip of land separate it from the Islamists' headquarters in the Nigerian state of Borno. Given Chad's previous antics, I'd say that "narrow strip of land" is an excuse. |
Posted by: Pappy 2015-01-17 21:01 |
#1 "We'll be back before the bananas blossom" |
Posted by: Shipman 2015-01-17 15:56 |