France Offers to Host International Meeting on Boko Haram
French President Francois Hollande offered Tuesday to organize an international meeting on tackling jihadist group Boko Haram that has killed thousands in Nigeria.
"In several days, I will receive the new Nigerian President (Muhammadu) Buhari and I will confirm to him that France is ready to unite all the actors in the fight against Boko Haram," Hollande said during a speech to diplomats on Tuesday.
Boko Haram has stepped up attacks in three Nigerian states in its northeastern heartland since Buhari, who has vowed to crush the group, came to power on May 29.
The Islamic extremists have also carried out deadly ambushes across Nigeria's borders and in recent weeks suicide bombers, many of them women, have staged several attacks in Cameroon and Chad.
Chad, Cameroon and Niger, which has also suffered from attacks by Boko Haram, launched a regional force earlier this year to end a conflict that has claimed more than 15,000 lives since 2009.
But the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), which also includes Benin and is expected to number some 8,700 troops and police, has yet to go into action.
Source: Agence France Presse
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