US to conduct counter-Boko Haram ops in Nigeria

Washington - The United States will conduct
surveillance and intelligence operations against
Boko Haram inside Nigeria, sources familiar
with the plan told AFP Friday, a significant
escalation of Washington's role in combatting
the Islamist group.
The operations will be carried out as part of the
recently announced deployment of up to 300
US military personnel to neighboring Cameroon,
officials said.
"This is going to be part of our Boko Haram
efforts that will be operating throughout the
region," one of the sources said on condition of
anonymity.
It will not include boots on the ground or
offensive combat, but will see US military
operations against Boko Haram in Africa's
most populous country for the first time.
"It's surveillance and intelligence gathering, not
anything offensive," said the same source.
US President Barack Obama on Wednesday
announced he would send up to 300 military
personnel to Cameroon. Approximately 145
have already arrived in the country.
The White House has been at pains to stress
that personnel would be armed only for self-
defense.
Nigeria greeted that announcement as a
"welcome development."
President Muhammadu Buhari took office in
May vowing to end the violence that has killed
scores and spooked much-needed investors in
Africa's largest economy and foremost oil
producer.
Buhari has replaced many of the military top
brass and set an end-of-year deadline to nix a
six-year insurgency featuring suicide attacks
and mass kidnappings that have shocked the
world.
On Thursday 30 people died in a double
bombing on a mosque in northeast Nigeria,
underscoring the scale of that challenge and,
experts say, the need for outside help.
But US efforts to give him military assistance
have been hampered by concerns about human
rights abuses carried out by the country's
military.
And until now, Washington has largely shied
away from engaging its own vast military
assets to combat Boko Haram, with
policymakers wary of fueling militant
recruitment or fusing the group's ties with
Middle Eastern Islamists.
The group's leaders have allied themselves
with the Islamic State group, but experts doubt
the scale and scope of collaboration.
However, there are growing fears that a once
regional Muslim anti-colonial movement is now
metastasizing into a regional jihadist threat.
The US moves come as Boko Haram steadily
expands operations beyond its traditional base
in northern Nigeria, conducting attacks in
Cameroon and Chad that have killed dozens.
An uptick in violence is expected in the coming
weeks with the end of the rainy season and
amid growing resistance to a nascent multi-
national joint task force bringing together
countries in the region to fight Boko Haram.
According to Pentagon officials, the US
Department of Defense also has approximately
250 personnel in Niger and 85 in Chad
conducting training and surveyance missions.
- AFP