US Gov Gives Nigeria 24 Armored Vehicles for Boko Haram Fight

An armored vehicle is seen parked near the joint anti-Boko Haram task force headquarters in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Sept. 26, 2011. The radical sect is the gravest security threat to Africa's most populous nation.

The U.S. government is giving Nigeria 24 mine-resistant, armor-protected vehicles to assist the country in its fight against Boko Haram militants.

A statement from the U.S. consulate in Lagos says the vehicles, valued at $11 million, are being handed over to Nigerian military officials Thursday.

The consulate says the donation "represents part of the continuing U.S. commitment to Nigeria and its neighbors to counter Boko Haram's senseless acts of terror, and promote regional security."
In October, the U.S. sent 300 troops to northern Cameroon to help coordinate the fight against the militants, and last month, it provided Cameroon with combat vehicles, power generators and other "tactical war equipment."

According to a group that tracks global terrorism, Boko Haram has become the most deadly terrorist group in the world, killing nearly 6,500 people in 2014.

It killed several thousand more in 2015 with attacks in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger.  Those countries, along with Benin, have formed a joint task force to battle Boko Haram.

The shadowy group says it is fighting to establish a strict Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

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