PARIS (Reuters) - French military aircraft are carrying out surveillance
missions to help countries bordering Nigeria tackle Boko Haram
militants,
officials said on Tuesday, amid efforts by African countries to coordinate a response to the threat posed by the group.
officials said on Tuesday, amid efforts by African countries to coordinate a response to the threat posed by the group.
The African Union
(AU) has authorised a force of 7,500 troops from Nigeria, Chad,
Cameroon, Niger and Benin to fight the militants. It is expected to seek
a United Nations Security Council mandate, which could also include
logistical support from other countries.
"Our air force is carrying out reconnaissance missions,
but not over Nigeria," said a French defence ministry source. "Our
support is limited to neighbouring countries such as Chad and Niger."
The source added intelligence was being given to Chadian
forces currently fighting Boko Haram on the Cameroon and Nigeria border
region.
Speaking at a ceremony on Tuesday marking the accidental death of nine
French airmen in Spain last month, French President Francois Hollande
had earlier said aircraft were currently operating over Nigeria.
Clarifying Hollande's comments, the presidential palace
said French planes were not flying over Nigeria, but that France was
"cooperating in the fight against Boko Haram".
Hollande said in May that Rafale fighter jets would be
used for reconnaissance missions to help find some 200 girls kidnapped
by Boko Haram.
Since then there has been no official comment on any French operations in the country.
France has headquartered its 3,200-strong Sahel
counter-insurgency force, Barkhane, in the Chadian capital N'Djamena,
some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Nigerian border. It has fighter
jets based there and in Niger, where it also has surveillance drones.
Paris has ruled out direct military involvement for now,
but said it can play a role in easing tensions and instigating dialogue
between its three former colonies - Chad, Niger and Cameroon - and
anglophone Nigeria.
Chad and Cameroon have stepped
up troop deployments to fight the militants and on Jan. 31 Chad's army
said it bombarded Boko Haram militants two days after their troops drove
Boko Haram fighters from a northern Nigeria border town.
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"France is in D'Djamena. We have the capacity to do surveillance and
provide intelligence," a French diplomatic source said."Our job is to
put some oil in the cogs between Nigeria and its neighbours."
(Reporting By John Irish, Marine Pennetier and Elizabeth Pineau; editing by Ralph Boulton)
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