Cameroon, Chad & Niger launch bid to combat Boko Haram militants 

Jan 18, Cameroon, Chad and Niger have launched a regional bid to combat the Boko Haram militants, as their attacks spread beyond Nigeria and concern mounts over the Nigerians’ failure to regain control. The three neighbours have opted for a joint military response to the cross-border threat from Boko Haram fighters and have made veiled criticisms of Nigeria, whose armed forces appear no match for the militant group that emerged in 2009. Brutal raids, massacres, suicide bomb attacks and kidnappings by Boko Haram have claimed at least 13,000 lives and driven an estimated 1.5 million people from their homes, mainly in arid northeast Nigeria.