-
28 July 2015
- From the section Africa
Cameroon will deploy an extra 2,000 troops along its northern border with Nigeria to fight militant Islamist group Boko Haram, state television reports.
It follows an upsurge in attacks blamed on the Nigerian militants.
Three suicide bombings killed 33 people in Cameroon’s main northern city, Maroua, since last week.
The reinforcements will raise the number of troops deployed to the north to 8,500, AFP news agency reports.
Cameroon’s army uses Maroua as the headquarters for its operations against the group.
Authorities in the region have announced several measures, including a ban on wearing the full-face veil, in an attempt to prevent suicide bombers from disguising themselves as devout Muslim women.
They have also closed some mosques and Islamic schools and banned large gatherings of Muslims without permission.
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari is due in Cameroon on Wednesday for talks with President Paul Biya in a bid to strengthen the regional alliance against Boko Haram.
After several months of delay, a multinational force of 8,700 soldiers, police and civilian personnel is due to start operations at the end of July.
It will be based in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, which has also been affected by the violence.
At least 17,000 people have been killed since Boko Haram launched its insurgency in northern Nigeria 2009, according to Amnesty International.
