African leader have agreed to wage “war” on Islamic militant group Boko Haram during a summit in Paris.
French President Francois Hollande, who hosted the meeting, said that African leaders from Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad had agreed on a “global and regional action plan”. They have pledged to share intelligence and launch co-ordinate military action against Boko Haram, which has been waging a bloody insurgency in north-east of Nigeria, north Cameroon, and Niger since 2002.
Boko Haram, which translates as “Western education is sinful and forbidden” in the local Hausa language, seeks to establish a “pure” Islamic state under Shariah law and end the encroachment of Westernisation in the region.
They have killed thousands of people over the last decade, but recent international attention stems from the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls from north-eastern Nigeria over the last month.
