Africa vows to crush Boko Haram

Paris, May 18: Nigeria and its neighbours vowed on Saturday to join forces against Boko Haram under an accord described as a declaration of war on the Islamic militants holding more than 200 schoolgirls.

Meeting in Paris, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and his counterparts from Benin, Chad, Cameroon and Niger approved an action plan to counter an organisation that has been blamed for 2,000 deaths this year as well as last month’s abduction of the schoolgirls from north- eastern Nigeria.

Underlining their threat, Boko Haram was suspected of carrying out another attack on the eve of the summit, killing one Cameroonian soldier and kidnapping 10 Chinese workers in Cameroon.

“We have seen what this organisation is capable of,” French President Francois Hollande said. “They have threatened civilians, they have attacked schools and they have kidnapped citizens of many countries.

“When more than 200 young girls are being held in barbaric conditions with the prospect of being sold into slavery, there are no questions to be asked, only actions to be taken,” Mr Hollande added.

The action plan will involve coordination of surveillance efforts aimed at finding the girls, the sharing of intelligence and joint efforts to secure the porous borders in the region, according to the summit’s conclusions.

In the longer term, the countries agreed to forge a regional counter- terrorism strategy under the auspices of the existing but barely active Lake Chad Basin Commission, with technical expertise and training support from Britain, France, the European Union and the United States.

— AFP People mourn the death of their relatives at the cemetery on Sunday where some of the 301 people killed after an explosion and fire in a coal mine were buried at Soma in Manisa. Meanwhile, The Turkish police detained 18 people, including mining company executives and top personnel, as part of an investigation into last week’s mine disaster, CNN Turk and other broadcasters reported on Sunday.