New escalation of Boko Haram. In a video released on Monday its leader, Abubakar Shekau promises to crush the regional military coalition fighting.
The Nigerian Islamist group conducted no less than three offensives against the last four days the city of Diffa in Niger, on the border with Nigeria - last Monday early morning. Boko Haram has also attacked border villages in Cameroon.
Face the risk of regional conflagration, Cameroon, Niger, Chad and Benin agreed Saturday with Nigeria to create a joint force of 8,700 men in charge of fighting Boko Haram.
For its part, the World Food Programme warns against a humanitarian crisis in the region as civilians flee the north-eastern Nigeria with the Islamists on their heels. "I saw with my eyes of many people being killed by Boko Haram before coming here," testifies Aisha Adam, a refugee in Cameroon. "They killed my father, they killed my brother ... I'm afraid to go to Nigeria because of Boko Haram," she managed to say between sobs.
The agency estimates that it will meet the needs of 230,000 people this year in the neighboring countries of Nigeria.
