Cameroon: 'US presence in the region will further radicalize people' - Jasmine Opperman by Radio Sputnik

Jasmine Opperman, South Africa-based analyst at the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium. Johannesburg
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US troops were deployed in Cameroon to help fight against the Boko Haram terrorist group, President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday.

300 servicemen would be sent to the Central African country to conduct airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations.

The move is part of US broad regional effort to stop the spread of Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in Western Africa.

Boko Haram launched attacks on Cameroon after the country joined Nigeria in the fight against the militants.

President Obama said the troops will stay in Cameroon until “no longer need”.

They will be equipped with weapons for their own protection and security.

Boko Haram, which opposes westernization, has been terrorizing Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger since its formation in 2002.

The United Nations Children Fund said that 800,000 children have been displaced by Boko Haram violence, nearly half the 1.5 million people uprooted by the militants’ campaign.

In 2014 Boko Haram made international headlines after militants kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls in Borno State.

In March 2015 Boko Haram pledged formal allegiance to the Islamic State militant group.