This story originally appeared on Reuters:
(Reuters) – Chad will send a large number of troops to neighboring Cameroon to help it fight increasing incursions from Boko Haram Islamist militants attacking from Nigeria, the Central African nation’s president said on Thursday.
The announcement by President Paul Biya did not specify how many troops Chad will send, but comes a day after the Chadian government said it will actively help Cameroon fight Boko Haram militants.
Chad President Idriss Deby Itno “has decided to send a large contingent of Chadian armed forces to help the Cameroonian Armed Forces facing…repeated attacks from the Boko Haram terrorist sect,” Biya said in the statement on the presidency’s website.
Biya has called for international military help to fight the Islamist militant group that has seized swathes of northern Nigeria and is threatening neighbors who share borders with the northeastern zones occupied by the group.