YAOUNDE, Cameroon
Around 2,500 Cameroonian troops will join a regional force tasked with eradicating Nigeria’s Boko Haram extremist group, which in recent months has staged several attacks in neighboring Cameroon, according to the latter country’s Defense Ministry.
On Friday, the ministry announced that President Paul Biya had decided to send at least 2,500 Cameroonian soldiers to join the recently established Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF).
The fresh deployments will raise the total troop strength of the MNJTF – which includes contingents from Nigeria, Cameroon, Benin, Niger and Chad – from a current 8,700 to more than 12,000.
For most of its existence, Boko Haram has confined its attacks to Nigeria. In recent months, however, the group has carried out several attacks in neighboring Cameroon that have left scores dead.
