African bloc offers $100 mn to fight Boko Haram


Yaounde, Feb 17 (IANS): The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) agreed during a summit Monday to provide Cameroon and Chad with an emergency aid of about $100 million to combat the Boko Haram militancy.

The summit was attended by the presidents of the ECCAS countries Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo and Central African Republic, according to a Xinhua report.

"...the most important thing is to set up these funds quickly to deal with the situation," said Secretary General of the ECCAS, Ahmad Allam-Mi.

The six ECCAS heads of state and other participants signed the Yaounde Declaration, in which they reiterated the necessity to work collectively to eradicate the terrorists.

They also agreed to fully cooperate with the Economic Community of West African States for fighting the Boko Haram.

"We engage to immediately bring multifaceted support to Cameroon, Chad and all the other member states who would be affected by the terrorist group, notably military, financial, logistics and humanitarian support," the declaration said.

The ECCAS leaders also called on the international community to maintain and increase its support for the fight against the Boko Haram.

ECCAS is a regional economic community of 10 countries, including Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Quinea, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Burundi and Sao Tome and Principe.

The Boko Haram has threatened the countries of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger and killed thousands of people and displaced many others. On Monday, the mlitants killed four Cameroonian soldiers and injured 10 others.

Nigerian military confirmed Monday to have intensified their crackdown on the Boko Haram in the northeastern part of the country and to have killed several militants.

The name Boko Haram, translated from the local dialect, means "non-Islamic education is a sin".

The group seeks to enshrine the Islamic Sharia law in the constitution of Africa's most populous country, Nigeria, and create an Islamic state in the mainly Muslim northern part of the country.

  

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Title: African bloc offers $100 mn to fight Boko Haram



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