| Literally, it will be claimed when we reach the buried lede, dear Reader. Be patient but a little while. |
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
jihadists had succeeded in "decapitating" the group and would be wrapped up "by the end of the year".
Addressing news hounds in the capital N'Djamena on the 55th anniversary of Chad's independence from La Belle France, Deby said: "Boko Haram is decapitated. There are little groups (of Boko Haram members) scattered throughout east Nigeria, on the border with Cameroon
...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there...
. It is within our power to definitively overcome Boko Haram."
"The war will be short, with the setting up of the regional force, it will be over by the end of the year," Deby added, referring to a new five-country force aimed at ending Boko Haram's bloody six-year Islamist insurgency that he said would be "operational in a few days".
Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria have all pledged troops towards the new force.
| Your patience will now be rewarded, dear Reader, as we have finally reached the lede at long last: |
| Talks are lovely, of course, especially if there are especially nice tea cakes and caviar in the offing, but surrender's the thing, not a mere hudna while the Lions of Islam rest and rearm. |
"For my part, I would advise not to negotiate with a terrorist," Deby, whose country has been spearheading the regional fightback against Boko Haram, said.While claiming progress in the fight against the jihadists, who have repeatedly hit border areas of Cameroon, Chad and Niger, and wrought havoc in northeast Nigeria
... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border...
, Deby admitted that jacket wallahs still posed a threat.
In the past few week, suicide bombers, many of them women, have staged several attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad.
The challenge, Deby said, was to "avoid terrorist acts and that's why we must organize at the regional level to prevent bomb-making materials and other explosives entering our countries."