This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/world/africa/boko-haram-chad-nigeria.html

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Chadian Forces, Beating Back Boko Haram, Are Said to Retake Nigerian Town African Nations Show Progress in Uniting to Beat Back Militants in Nigeria
(about 11 hours later)
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Chadian forces have retaken an important Nigerian town north of here that had been under the control of Boko Haram since October, according to a Chadian military spokesman, Nigerian news media reports and officials in neighboring Niger. African leaders are stepping up their response to Boko Haram, with Chadian soldiers chasing the militants from a northern Nigerian town and the African Union calling for a 7,500-member regional force to tackle what it called “a serious threat” to the continent.
If confirmed, the recapturing of the town, Malam Fatori, would indicate a breakthrough in regional cooperation in the fight against Boko Haram insurgents — a joint effort long viewed warily by the Nigerian military. It would also represent an incursion of foreign forces on Nigerian soil. A communiqué adopted by the peace and security council of the African Union, which is meeting this week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, calls on Nigerian soldiers and their counterparts from four neighboring countries — Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger — to “prevent the expansion of Boko Haram,” search for those abducted by the group and conduct joint patrols at their borders. It does not specifically authorize the most sensitive step: cross-border operations.
Boko Haram’s black flag had flown over the town, just across the border from Niger and about 150 miles north of here in remote semidesert scrub, since October. According to a Chadian military spokesman, Nigerian news media reports and officials in Niger, Chadian forces took control on Thursday of Malam Fatori, a northern town that Boko Haram had held since October.
On Thursday, forces from Chad, which with Cameroon has pledged to join the fight against Boko Haram, chased out the Islamists, according to Col. Abouna Azem, a spokesman for the Chadian military. If confirmed, the recapturing of the town would indicate a breakthrough in regional military cooperation in the fight against the insurgents, which the Nigerian military has long viewed warily. A Nigerian Army spokesman said his troops had been involved in the operation, too, and another Nigerian official said his country “has never objected to cross-border operations in the fight against Boko Haram.”
“We confirm it. It’s been retaken. We chased Boko Haram out yesterday. They have fled the town,” Colonel Azem said. “For now, the Chadian forces are on the ground.” Boko Haram, an Islamist extremist group, has dug its heels into a swath of northeastern Nigeria and continues to spread havoc across an already fragile region. The International Organization for Migration estimates that a million Nigerians have fled their homes, and that an additional 100,000 have sought shelter in Cameroon, Chad and Niger. This has created “risks of tension” between refugees and residents, the African Union communiqué said.
A defeat for Boko Haram in the country′s rural northeast takes pressure off this regional capital of over two million, which sustained a significant attack this week and is thought by officials to be the Islamist extremist group’s ultimate target. In a Twitter post on Friday, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the chairwoman of the African Union Commission, wrote, “Terrorism, in particular of #BokoHaram, requires a response that is collective, decisive & effective to achieve the desired results.”
Officials have said that Boko Haram forces are regrouping for another attack after being pushed back on Sunday. But the militants did capture a significant Nigerian military installation just north of here, at Monguno, chasing 1,400 Nigerian soldiers into the bush. The need for a regional force to tackle insurgents based inside its territory is something of an anomaly — some say an embarrassment — for Nigeria. Nigeria has the continent’s largest military and contributes large numbers of troops to United Nations peacekeeping missions worldwide.
Chad’s military is considered by some experts to be the region’s top antiterrorism force, particularly after it provided crucial help to France in forcing out Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb from Mali's northern deserts. Its full engagement in the fight against Boko Haram could signal a turning point. One United Nations diplomat said the country’s “fragility” in the face of Boko Haram had prompted other countries in Africa to act. “There is a serious concern that if nothing is done, this Boko Haram terror group could affect a huge chunk of the continent,” the diplomat said. “What the region needs to do is to address this head on.”
Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos, a French scholar and Boko Haram specialist, said that Chad had an economic stake in the fight against the militants, especially if northern Cameroon became cut off because of the instability in the region. Nigeria’s neighbors, particularly Chad and Cameroon, have already mobilized their troops to push back Boko Haram. Regional rivalries, however, have hindered agreement on whether soldiers from one country can pursue the insurgents across borders. Cameroon, which has had longstanding territorial disputes with Nigeria, had strongly objected to operations that could lead to having Nigerian soldiers on its soil, diplomats said.
Still, he pointed out that the Chadian army was accused of committing abuses during an African Union-led peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic. The Chadian government withdrew its forces from the force last year, acknowledging that its soldiers had been accused of siding with Muslim militias in sectarian clashes with Christian fighters. The Chadians defended their actions, saying after one particularly deadly attack that they acted in self-defense. In October, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria agreed to the idea of a joint force, which was to have its headquarters in a northern Nigerian town called Baga. Disputes among the troop-contributing countries delayed full deployment, and in mid-January, Boko Haram insurgents stormed the town, killing scores of people and destroying buildings, according to satellite images published by Human Rights Watch.
The Nigerian military, protective of its sovereignty despite a faltering performance against Boko Haram that has seen the militants capture much territory around this city, has resisted a full partnership with the Chadian forces as well as with Cameroon. Ministers from the five countries, along with African Union and United Nations officials, are due to meet in early February to work out the details of the regional force. The African Union would then seek the blessing of the United Nations Security Council — as well as a trust fund to pay for it.
A top local official on the Niger side, just across the Komadougou River from Malam Fatori, confirmed that Chadian forces had been at the forefront of the fight against Boko Haram there this week. Human Rights Watch cautioned the African Union this week to safeguard human rights as part of the new regional force, specifically to “take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians, including by not exposing civilians to retaliatory attacks.”
“The Chadian Army has been bombing Boko Haram positions,” said Aboubacar Mara, the prefect of Bosso, Niger. “For the last three days, and on the islands, too,” he said, referring to Boko Haram encampments on the islands in nearby Lake Chad. Chadian troops were accused of committing rights abuses last year during an African Union-led peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic. The Chadian government withdrew its troops from the force last year, acknowledging that its soldiers had been accused of siding with Muslim militias in sectarian clashes with Christian fighters. The Chadians had said they acted in self-defense after one particularly deadly attack.
“It was their forces that advanced on Malam Fatori,” said Ary Malam Ligari, the president of the regional council in Diffa, Niger, the region’s major city, referring to the Chadian Army. “Malam Fatori is no longer in the hands of the Boko Haram.” Chad has emerged as a crucial partner to Western powers in the fight against terrorism in Africa. Its soldiers have served alongside French forces to root out Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb from Mali’s northern deserts.
The newspaper The Daily Trust of Nigeria quoted Malam Fatori residents who had fled earlier to Maiduguri, and who were in touch with relatives there, as saying that Chadian forces had chased the Islamists out of the town. Chad said its soldiers had pushed the Islamists from Malam Fatori in remote semidesert scrub near the Niger border. “We confirm it,” a Chadian military spokesman, Col. Abouna Azem, said on Thursday. “It’s been retaken.”
However, a Nigerian military spokesman refused to confirm that it was the Chadians alone who had retaken Malam Fatori. Malam Fatori is about 90 miles from Maiduguri, the regional capital of northeastern Nigeria and home to more than two million people. Maiduguri sustained a significant attack this week and is thought by officials to be Boko Haram’s ultimate target.
“There is an ongoing operation,” said the spokesman, Chris Olukolade. “It’s not the Chadian forces solely that are operating there,” he said, adding in a subsequent text message that “Malam Fatori is within the area of operation covered by the Multinational Joint Task Force, of which Chad has always been a part.” A local government official in Niger, just across the Komadugu River from Malam Fatori, confirmed that Chadian forces had been at the forefront of the fight against Boko Haram, including by bombing the insurgents’ camps on islands in nearby Lake Chad.
But that task force has largely been a dead letter in recent months: Troops from neighboring countries were absent, for instance, from its would-be headquarters at Baga when that town sustained a bloody assault from Boko Haram this month. A Nigerian military spokesman refused to confirm, however, that it was the Chadians alone who had retaken Malam Fatori.
Mr. Olukolade said the Nigerian Air Force had also been engaged in the fight for Malam Fatori. “It’s not the Chadian forces solely that are operating there,” said the spokesman, Chris Olukolade, adding in a subsequent text message that Malam Fatori is part of the area where the multinational regional force is authorized to operate jointly. Mr. Olukolade said the Nigerian Air Force had also been engaged in the fight for the town.