AU, Cameroon urge continued efforts to combat terrorism

ADDIS ABABA/NAIROBI. — Senior officials of the African Union and Cameroon have emphasised the need to continue efforts to address the threat posed by terrorism and the urgent need to accelerate the full operationalisation of the multinational joint task force against Boko Haram. The remarks came during a meeting between Smail Chergui, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, and Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo, Cameroon Defence Minister, in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, according to an AU statement yesterday. The two officials met Monday on the margins of the African regional conference on peacekeeping operations, organised by the government of Ethiopia, according to the statement.

The commissioner and the minister exchanged views on a broad range of issues of mutual interest, including the security situation in the Central African region and the Lake Chad Basin. The officials emphasised the need to continue addressing the threat posed by terrorism, and stressed the urgent necessity to accelerate the full operationalization of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to counter Boko Haram.

With regard to the operationalisation of the MNJTF, the AU commissioner briefed the minister on the actions taken by AU towards establishing the MNJTF Headquarters in N’Djamena, Chad. Chergui reiterated AU’s commitment to continue mobilizing additional resources and assets to support the MNJTF troop and police contributing countries, including Cameroon, Nigeria, Benin, Niger and Chad.

The Commissioner and the minister also discussed the operationalisation of the AU Continental Logistics Base (CLB) in Douala, Cameroon.

The two parties agreed to convene a meeting of experts by mid-September 2015, to finalize a memorandum of understanding on the Continental Logistics Base.

Meanwhile, att least 50 African Union soldiers are believed to have been killed and another 50 are missing after Al-Shabaab militants overran a military camp in southern Somalia on Tuesday, according to Western military officials.

“It is assessed that at least 50 Amisom troops died,” said a briefing note sent to diplomats by Western military officials and seen by AFP.

It said that in total around 100 soldiers were “unaccounted for” after the attack. — Xinhua/AFP.