French Planes Back Multinational Force in Fight Against Boko Haram

04 Feb 2015

French military aircraft

Senator Iroegbu with agency report

French military aircraft have been carrying out surveillance missions to help countries bordering Nigeria tackle Boko Haram militants, officials said on Tuesday, amid efforts by African countries to coordinate a response to the threat posed by the terror group.

The African Union (AU) has authorised a force of 7,500 troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroun and Niger that make up the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) under the Lake Chad Basin Commission to fight the insurgents.

“Our air force is carrying out reconnaissance missions, but not over Nigeria,” Reuters quoted a French defence ministry source.

“Our support is limited to neighbouring countries such as Chad and Niger.”

The source added that intelligence was being given to Chadian forces currently engaged in the bombardment of Boko Haram insurgents hiding in the Sambisa forest on the Cameroun and Nigeria border region.

Speaking at a ceremony marking the accidental death of nine French airmen in Spain last month, French President Francois Hollande had earlier said aircraft were currently operating over Nigeria.

Clarifying Hollande’s comments, the presidential palace said French planes were not flying over Nigeria, but that France was “cooperating in the fight against Boko Haram”.

Hollande said in May 2014 that Rafale fighter jets would be used for reconnaissance missions to help find some 200 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram.

Since then, there has been no official comment on any French operations in the country.

France has headquartered its 3,200-strong Sahel counter-insurgency force, Barkhane, in the Chadian capital N'Djamena, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Nigerian border. It has fighter jets based there and in Niger, where it also has surveillance drones.

Paris has ruled out direct military involvement for now, but said it could play a role in easing tensions and instigating dialogue between its three former colonies - Chad, Niger and Cameroun - and anglophone Nigeria.

Chad and Cameroun have stepped up troop deployments to fight the militants and on January 31, Chad’s army said it bombarded Boko Haram militants two days after their troops drove Boko Haram fighters from Malamfatori in Borno State.

“France is in N'Djamena. We have the capacity to do surveillance and provide intelligence,” a French diplomatic source said.” Our job is to put some oil in the cogs between Nigeria and its neighbours.”
In further a sign of the noose being tightened around the terrorists, Chadian troops yesterday clashed with Boko Haram fighters in Gamborou-Ngala in Borno State in a bid to break the Islamist insurgents’ grip on the town bordering Cameroun, Chadian military sources said.

Chad has deployed some 2,500 troops as part of a regional effort to take on the terrorist group that has waged a bloody insurgency to create an Islamist emirate in northern Nigeria, which killed an estimated 10,000 people last year.

The fighting in Gamborou, south of Lake Chad, came as hundreds of Chadian soldiers massed near the town of Diffa in Niger, near the Nigerian border northwest of the lake, military sources in Niger said.
The attack followed days of intense fighting between Chadian forces in Cameroun and Boko Haram fighters who had launched attacks across a border bridge, during which Chad’s air force carried out strikes on insurgent positions, Chadian and Cameroun military sources told Reuters.

The road from Gamborou to Fotokol in Cameroun is one of Boko Haram’s major supply routes. It has been hampered since Cameroun deployed special forces to the area in mid-2014, leading to fierce fighting in the area.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday condemned in the strongest terms the continued escalation of attacks perpetrated by Boko Haram terrorists, pointing to an attack on February 1 in Borno State and to increasing attacks in the Lake Chad Basin region, including January 29 and 30 against Chadian forces deployed in Cameroun near the town of Fotokol, which killed four Chadian soldiers and injured 12 others.

In a statement issued to the press in New York, the 15 members extended their condolences to the families of those killed and injured, and to the people and the Governments of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Chad.

Recalling their presidential statement of January 19, council members reiterated their deep concern that the activities of Boko Haram are undermining the peace and stability of the West and Central African region.

They urged the region to enhance regional military operations and coordination to more effectively and immediately combat Boko Haram.

In that regard, they commended the Chadian army's swift assistance in Cameroun, which resulted in the neutralisation of 123 Boko Haram combatants and the capture of others.

Members of the 15-state body reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including the actions of Boko Haram, constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, and that any and all acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whosoever committed.

Reiterating their determination to combat all forms of terrorism, in accordance with its responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations, members underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of acts of terrorism to justice.

They also urged all states, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate with the relevant authorities in that regard.

The council also reminded states that they must ensure that measures taken to combat terrorism comply with all their obligations under international law, in particular international human rights, refugee and humanitarian law.

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