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| Obama |
In a notification to Congress, President Barack Obama said an
advance force of about 90 military personnel began deploying on Monday
to Cameroon, with the consent of the Yaounde government.
The troops will "conduct airborne intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance operations in the region," Obama said.
"These forces are equipped with weapons for the purpose of providing
their own force protection and security, and they will remain in
Cameroon until their support is no longer needed."
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
the troops would provide intelligence to a multi-national task force
being set up to fight Boko Haram and composed of troops from Nigeria,
Niger, Cameroon, Chad and Benin.
Boko Haram, which
wants to carve out an Islamist caliphate and has allied itself to
Islamic State, earlier this year stepped up cross-border attacks on
Nigeria's neighbors.
On Sunday, two female suicide
bombers killed nine people in the town of Mora in Cameroon's Far North
region, employing a tactic increasingly favored by Boko Haram.
The American officials said the U.S. soldiers would deploy
initially to the city of Garoua in northern Cameroon, not far from the
Nigerian border. The force will include Predator drones for
surveillance, they said.
The White House said the move was not in response to any changed assessment of threat in the region.
The United States has no combat troops in Africa, but has
been increasing support to allies in the region battling Boko Haram.
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