Chad calls for regional force to battle Boko Haram
LIBREVILLE (AFP) - Chad called Monday for the 16-nation Lake Chad Basin Commission to set up a joint force tasked with containing the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram.
The appeal by Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno at the opening of the regional grouping's summit in Libreville came amid unabated and spreading attacks in Nigeria blamed on the Muslim sect.
"I am demanding the creation of a joint deterrence force. We have to make this decision here today," he said. "Our basin is exposed to insecurity because of the permanent threat posed by Boko Haram."
"Now is the time for action. We cannot save Lake Chad without eradicating this Boko Haram sect," Deby said.
Central African Republic (CAR) President Francois Bozize concurred that "a joint effort is needed to tackle insecurity in the region" and offered to contribute troops to the proposed force.
The summit is scheduled to largely focus on efforts to fight against drought and preserve Lake Chad, which is key to livelihoods in the broader basin area but has been shrinking fast and risks disappearing altogether.
The Lake Chad Basin Commission groups Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Libya, Niger and Nigeria.
Boko Haram's increasingly bloody insurgency has claimed more than 1,000 lives since mid-2009.
The group initially claimed to be fighting for the creation of an Islamic state in Nigeria's north, but its demands and structure have become less clear in recent months.
Officials and experts have repeatedly warned that Boko Haram may be building ties with Al-Qaeda and expanding beyond Nigeria's borders to threaten the entire region.
At least 11 people died in a suicide attack on a police convoy Monday in eastern Nigeria. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but the targeted Taraba state had so far been spared by the violence.