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MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, March 8 (UPI) -- Military forces from Chad and Niger began an offensive against militant group Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria on Sunday, according to officials from both countries. The air and land attack is focused in Borno State, whose capital, Maiduguri, was rocked by five suicide bombings that killed at least 50 people on Saturday. The operation also follows Saturday's pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State by Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau.
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Since 2009, Boko Haram has waged an insurgency against the Nigerian government in pursuit of an Islamic government. It has been blamed for countless attacks, including suicide bombings carried out by girls who experts speculate may have been kidnapped by the group.
The African Union pledged to create an international force to combat the group, agreeing in late January on a 7,500-strong force from Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Benin and Nigeria. On Friday, the AU increased that number to over 8,000 troops.
Boko Haram attacks have in recent months inched toward Nigeria's northern border areas, with Niger claiming to have killed over 100 militants when they assaulted a town near the Nigerian border on Feb. 7 and Chad's military saying it killed over 200 in a battle on the Cameroon-Nigeria border three days earlier. On Feb. 13, the group attacked into Chad for the first time.
The Nigerian government says Boko Haram's IS pledge is a sign of weakness in the face of continued pressure from the military, but attacks from the group have been continuous and in some cases disastrous for international forces.
In early January, a Boko Haram assault on the northeastern town of Baga sent multinational forces from Niger, Chad and Nigeria into retreat, allowing the militants to slaughter scores of people.
Nigeria's ministry of defense put the official death toll at 150, but up to 2,000 residents of the town are still missing and presumed dead. Nigeria's military said it recaptured Baga in late February.
