African Union to send 7,500 troops to Nigeria to help fight Boko Haram

African Union leaders agreed during a two-day summit in Ethiopia to send 7,500 troops to help push back the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria, The Associated Press reports.

Boko Haram militants have killed thousands in the five years that they have expanded their reach through northeast Nigeria; and, insurgents have increased the frequency of their attacks in the leadup to Nigeria's Feb. 14 elections.

On Thursday, troops and a warplane from neighboring country Chad drove Boko Haram militants out of a border town in Nigeria; it was the first foreign intervention against the insurgency, but an AU official said future operations will be launched by the African Union, not individual countries.

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