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Niger Sending Troops to Fight Boko Haram Niger Adds Its Troops to the War on Boko Haram
(about 4 hours later)
DAKAR, Senegal — With the regional war against the Boko Haram militant group widening, Niger’s parliament has agreed to send troops across the border to join the fight. DAKAR, Senegal — With the regional war against the Boko Haram militant group widening, Niger’s Parliament has agreed to send troops across the border to join the fight.
The vote was unanimous in Niger’s National Assembly on Monday night, reflecting the shock produced by at least four attacks in Niger in less than a week, including an explosion at a market in the country’s east that killed a number of civilians. The vote was unanimous in the National Assembly on Monday night, reflecting the shock produced by at least four attacks in Niger in less than a week, including an explosion at a market in the country’s east that killed a number of civilians.
Chad, Cameroon and Benin have also agreed to contribute troops to an 8,700-member force to fight Boko Haram, a Nigerian militant group whose attacks have increasingly spilled across borders in the region. Chad, Cameroon and Benin have also agreed to contribute troops to an 8,700-member force to fight Boko Haram. Attacks by the militant group, which is based in Nigeria, have increasingly spilled across borders in the region.
Nigeria’s war has now spread to its smaller, poorer neighbor, Niger. In Diffa, the main city in the country’s far east, just across the border from Nigeria, “people are in a panic,” the head of the local Red Cross in Diffa, Abdullai Adah, said by phone on Tuesday, after a bombing at a vegetable market and an attack on the city’s prison the preceding day. At least eight are dead, he said. Nigeria’s war has spread to its smaller, poorer neighbor, Niger. In Diffa, the main city in the country’s far east, just across the border from Nigeria, “people are in a panic,” the head of the Red Cross in Diffa, Abdullai Adah, said by phone on Tuesday, after a bombing at a vegetable market and an attack on the city’s prison the day before. At least eight were killed, Mr. Adah said.
“Everybody is shut up at home,” said Mr. Adah. “All the stores are closed. And we are hearing heavy artillery from the Nigeria side.” “Everybody is shut up at home,” he said. “All the stores are closed. And we are hearing heavy artillery from the Nigeria side.”
The civil prison at Diffa, the target of one of the Boko Haram attacks, held militants and their sympathizers, according to a regional news site, Sahelien.com. The site quoted residents saying that they had heard armed men calling “Allahu akbar” from pickup trucks as the prison was attacked — a cry that also resounds from three newly released Boko Haram propaganda videos this week. The civil prison in Diffa that Boko Haram struck held militants and their sympathizers, according to a regional news site, Sahelien.com. The site quoted residents as saying that they had heard armed men calling “Allahu akbar” from pickup trucks as the prison was attacked — a cry that also resounds from three newly released Boko Haram propaganda videos this week.
The National Assembly vote in Niger’s capital 850 miles away, Niamey, followed the attacks in Diffa within hours. The National Assembly’s vote in Niger’s capital, Niamey, 850 miles away, followed the attacks in Diffa within hours.
“People are worried,” said a leading political scientist in the capital, Mahaman Tidjani Alou.“People are worried,” said a leading political scientist in the capital, Mahaman Tidjani Alou.
“That there are bombs in Niger, this is something totally unprecedented,” said Mr. Alou, speaking by phone from Niamey on Tuesday. “It’s clear that this is not just at our doorstep now. It is inside the country.” “That there are bombs in Niger, this is something totally unprecedented,” said Mr. Alou, speaking by phone on Tuesday. “It’s clear that this is not just at our doorstep now. It is inside the country.”
Niger, a country where American and French drones are based, has been attacked previously by Al Qaeda’s African affiliate in its desert north. It now finds itself under attack on its southern edge by a different group of Islamist extremists.Niger, a country where American and French drones are based, has been attacked previously by Al Qaeda’s African affiliate in its desert north. It now finds itself under attack on its southern edge by a different group of Islamist extremists.
“Niger has had a very clear position in relation to Boko Haram, and it is equally clear that this position can have consequences,” Mr. Alou said. “It’s the state itself that has been attack, the symbols of authority. The state can’t simply allow that.” “Niger has had a very clear position in relation to Boko Haram, and it is equally clear that this position can have consequences,” Mr. Alou said. “It’s the state itself that has been attacked, the symbols of authority. The state can’t simply allow that.”
Diffa, only 260 miles from the Nigerian city that spawned Boko Haram, Maiduguri, was penetrated as long ago as the early 2000s by the radical Islamist ideology on which the sect was nurtured, the French Boko Haram specialist Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos, said in a new study. Diffa, only about 100 miles from the Nigerian city that spawned Boko Haram, Maiduguri, was penetrated as long ago as the early 2000s by the radical Islamist ideology on which the sect was nurtured, a French specialist on Boko Haram, Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos, said in a new study.
Extremist preachers struggled for influence in the town before being chased from Diffa’s central mosque in 2007, Mr. de Montclos wrote. Yet the dusty low-slung market town was thought by specialists to have been penetrated by Boko Haram cells, and to have provided a safe haven for the militants even as they were attacking Nigerians across the border. Extremist preachers struggled for influence in the city before being chased from Diffa’s central mosque in 2007, Mr. de Montclos wrote. Yet the dusty, low-slung market town was thought by specialists to have been penetrated by Boko Haram cells and to have provided a safe haven for the militants even as they were attacking Nigerians across the border.
As the vote wrapped up in Niger’s parliament in Niamey late Monday night, the National Assembly speaker, Amadou Salifou, said that there had been a “collective recognition of the gravity of the situation,” according to the state news service. As the vote wrapped up in Niamey late Monday night, the National Assembly speaker, Amadou Salifou, said there had been a “collective recognition of the gravity of the situation,” according to the state news service.
With attacks on Boko Haram now coming from the militaries of four countries — Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria — the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, released a video this week on YouTube in which he mocks the forces arrayed against him, especially Chad’s. With attacks on Boko Haram now coming from the militaries of four countries — Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria — the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, released a video this week on YouTube in which he mocked the forces arrayed against him, especially Chad’s.
“You sent 7, 000 of your soldiers. Why didn’t you send seven million?” Shekau said in the video, according to a translation by the terrorism monitoring group SITE. “Only 7,000!? By Allah, it is small. We can capture them in an attempt or two.” “You sent 7,000 of your soldiers. Why didn’t you send seven million?” he said in the video, according to a translation by the terrorism monitoring group SITE. “Only 7,000? By Allah, it is small. We can capture them in an attempt or two.”