MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Schoolgirls torn from their families in a mass kidnapping and forced into sexual slavery. Bombs that ripped through bus stations. The slaughter of hundreds of villagers.
Nigeria has suffered through years of violence from the Muslim extremist group known as Boko Haram, and now its neighbors are taking on the militants, too.
African nations are opening up a new international front in the war on terrorism, discussing Friday the formation of a five-nation force of 7,500 soldiers to confront the looming regional threat from Boko Haram. The United States promised more technical support, training and equipment.
On Thursday, Chad sent a warplane and troops that drove the extremists out of a northeastern Nigeria border town in the first such act by foreign troops on Nigerian soil.
Chad’s victory, and the need for foreign troops, is an embarrassment to Nigeria’s once-mighty military, brought low by corruption and politics. The foreign intervention comes two weeks before hotly contested national elections in which President Goodluck Jonathan is seeking another term.
Boko Haram has declared an Islamic caliphate that encompasses about 130 towns and villages in a large swath of northeastern Nigeria, according to Amnesty International. Global concern has grown as the terrorist group launched brazen attacks in northern Cameroon.
