<\/p>\n
(AFP) – Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has threatened Cameroon in a
\nvideo message on YouTube, warning that the same fate would befall the
\ncountry as neighbouring Nigeria.<\/p>\n
The video, which was posted on January 5, is directly addressed to
\nCameroon’s President Paul Biya after repeated fighting between militants
\nand troops in the country’s far north.<\/p>\n
“Oh Paul Biya, if you don’t stop this, your evil plot, you will taste what
\nhas befallen Nigeria… Your troops cannot do anything to us,” Shekau said
\nin Arabic.<\/p>\n
It is first time Shekau has directly addressed Cameroon and is also the
\nfirst admission that Boko Haram has been actively operating in the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
Boko Haram fighters had in the past launched attacks on northeastern
\nNigeria from bases in Cameroon but recent months have seen an increase in
\nstrikes within the country.<\/p>\n
Boko Haram, which began its violent insurgency in 2009, has taken over
\nswathes of territory in three northeastern Nigerian states, and declared
\nsome towns as part of its Islamic caliphate.<\/p>\n
Cameroon’s far north has come increasingly into the group’s firing line
\nand on December 28, Yaounde deployed fighter jets against Boko Haram for
\nthe first time.<\/p>\n
Biya personally ordered the air strike after the insurgents crossed the
\nborder and seized a military camp, the government said on December 29.<\/p>\n
The aerial bombardment, hailed as a new phase in the counter-insurgency,
\nforced the Islamists to flee, it added.<\/p>\n
Cameroon’s president has made a series of strong statements against Boko
\nHaram and in October last year vowed to go after the group “until it’s
\ntotally wiped out”.<\/p>\n
In May last year, he said that a Paris meeting of Nigeria’s neighbours was
\ndesigned to “declare war on Boko Haram”.<\/p>\n
But a key agreement at the summit to set up a regional force has yet to be
\nimplemented, with Cameroon increasingly vocal in its criticisms about the
\nlack of a coordinated response to Boko Haram.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(AFP) – Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has threatened Cameroon in a video message on YouTube, warning that the same fate would befall the country as neighbouring Nigeria. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n