Yaounde - Cameroon's President Paul Biya has
appealed for international military help to fight
Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which this
week threatened to step up its cross-border
raids into the country from Nigeria.
The Nigerian group is part of a "global"
movement that has attacked Mali, the Central
African Republic and Somalia in its drive to
establish its authority from the Indian Ocean to
the Atlantic, Biya said.
"A global threat calls for a global response. Such
should be the response of the international
community, including the African Union and our
regional organizations," he said in a New Year
speech on Thursday to diplomats at the
presidential palace.
He said he regretted that a regional military
force against the insurgents had yet to be
established.
At least 15 people were killed in an attack on a
bus in north Cameroon on New Year's day.
A man purporting to be Boko Haram's leader,
Abubakar Shekau, threatened in a video posted
online this week to step up violence in
Cameroon unless it scrapped its constitution and
embraced Islam. Biya did not comment on the
video in his speech.
The country has deployed more troops to its Far
North region and has killed hundreds of the
Islamist fighters. New laws aimed at stamping
out the militants were also helping, Biya said.
"Although weakened by the losses it has
suffered, our foe nonetheless remains capable
of bouncing back," he said.
The German government donated 120 all-terrain
vehicles to Cameroon's military in November.
Boko Haram is the main security threat to
Nigeria, Africa's leading energy producer and
biggest economy and also threatens Chad and
Niger.
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