U.S. army to provide equipment, intelligence to fight Boko Haram

2015-02-17T15:45:02-05:00

Brigadier General James Linder said that, as part of the annual U.S.-backed 'Flintlock' counter-terrorism exercises this year in Chad, the United States would provide technology allowing African partners to communicate between cellphones, radios and computers.

The system also incorporates a translation function that would allow commanders in francophone countries like Chad to communicate by message with English-speaking officers in Nigeria, a U.S. military officer said.

Boko Haram killed an estimated 10,000 people last year in its campaign to carve an Islamist emirate from northern Nigeria. Amid growing international alarm, the four nations of the Lake Chad region -- Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Nigeria -- plus neighboring Benin are preparing a joint task-force of 8,700 men to take on the Sunni jihadist group.

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U.S. army to provide equipment, intelligence to fight Boko Haram| Reuters

The United States military will share communications equipment and intelligence with African allies to assist them in the fight against Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, the commander of U.S.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 17 at 2015 4:28 PM

2015-02-17T16:28:54-05:00

I thought this is something we were already doing. Perhaps it was just training support for Nigeria and Niger previously? But added support is definitely a good thing. This regional threat to stability has been largely unchecked.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 17 at 2015 4:30 PM

2015-02-17T16:30:54-05:00

This is good news, SSG Norman Lihou. Besides the commo equipment, I'm glad to see we're going to provide intelligence. Some will say folks are screaming that the sky is falling, but I think the extremist Muslim threat to the world is real. We have ISIS and Boko Haram (two well known groups). There are many more, and I think there's no doubt about their goal. I also think it won't stop in Africa or the Middle East. That means we have to do things like this ... and a LOT more.