Progress made by the
Cameroonian Defence Forces (CDF) against terror group Boko Haram has a lot to
do with their use of armoured vehicles.
Earlier this year the Cameroonian military received 12
Ratel infantry fighting vehicles from South Africa that have added to a growing
inventory of newer armoured vehicles.
They added to other recent acquisitions of US-built PKSV
armoured vehicles from General Dynamics and Israeli Thunder Mk1 armoured
personnel carriers from GAIA Automotive Industries, which followed from the
earlier procurement of Chinese armoured vehicles.
It has allowed the specialist anti-terrorist units such
as the elite Rapid Intervention Battalions (BIRs), a semi-independent force,
separate from the Army, to conduct more mobile operations at longer ranges and
in cooperation with regular forces and other countries across borders.
Yaoundé is in fact eager to further strengthen its
armoured capabilities with negotiations for the procurement of heavier platform
being currently underway in Russia.
Counter terror operations come under the authority of the
4th Joint Forces Military Region (RMIA 4) whose HQ is located at Maroua and
coordinates Operation Emergence 4. The BIRs provide a sizeable component of
over 2,000 men under their own Operation Alpha and with the new vehicles they
have been able to gain more successes. Until early 2015 the only armoured unit
in the Far North was the Army’s Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion (BBR).
Headquartered in Douala, the BBR replaced its fleet of
legacy Cadillac Cage V-150 Commando vehicles in 2013, when it received a batch
of 20 Chinese made NORINCO Type 07P Infantry Fighting Vehicles (including a
command post version and an armoured recovery vehicle), 18 NORINCO WMA
301/PTL-02 Assaulter Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) and four NORINCO WZ-551
support vehicles (one armoured recovery vehicle and three command posts).
This BBR used these vehicles in support of Army and BIR
operations against Boko Haram throughout 2014, achieving some success. Then in
October 2015, the RMIA 4 received four PKSV and with the start of cross-border
operations in neighbouring Nigeria by Cameroonian forces in late 2015, the
situation evolved, with the CDF adopting a more offensive posture.
At the beginning of 2016, the BBR vehicles originally
assigned to Operation Alpha were transferred to the newly operational Sector 1
of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF). In early April 2016, Sector 1,
launched an offensive into Nigeria with motorized infantry units supported by
Type 07Ps from the BBR and the PKSV, destroying a Boko Haram base, killing
several terrorists and capturing caches of weapons and supplies before joining
with Nigerian Army units.
Having assessed the importance of armoured vehicles in
combat operations against Boko Haram, the BIR decided to develop its own
armoured capabilities, procuring 16 Thunder Mk.1 APCs in two successive batches
delivered in 2015. In October of that same year, the BIR received two PKSV as a
donation from the US DoD. These were followed by the 12 Ratel IFVs in early
2016.
While the Thunder have been used in the troop transport
role since their delivery, the Ratel are employed in three major functions: as
road clearing vehicles against IEDs and mines, being fitted with a mine roller
to detonate these artefacts, as troop transports and also fire support
vehicles. For this latter role, they are armed with a Serbian made M55 20 mm
canon which the BIR uses with explosive ammunition.
The Thunder were deployed in combat operations inside
Cameroon throughout 2015, being attached to the command posts of Operation
Alpha’s three different zones (South, Centre, North). In November 2015, the BIR
launched its first cross border operation into Nigeria, Arrow 1, which saw 500
troops deployed by Cameroon with armoured support being provided by the
Thunder.
As one BIR officer explained, BIR armoured vehicles
always work in pairs, for mutual support. While the Thunder have been involved
in all Arrow operations since their inception, the Ratel made their combat
debut during Arrow 4, on 25 January. They were later involved in all subsequent
five Arrow operations, until Arrow 9 as well as in other smaller
operations.
The BIR has said it is very satisfied with the excellent
mobility and firepower of the Ratel. During Arrow 5 between 11 and 14 February,
the Ratel were again heavily involved, neutralizing several Boko Haram
strongpoints with their 20 mm canon, a feat they would repeat during Arrow 6,
in late February.
The regional effort against Boko Haram has significantly
weakened it and forced its members to resort to more asymmetrical tactics,
increasingly relying on IEDs, suicide attacks and targeted assassinations.
While the sect remains a significant threat, the days of major attacks
mobilizing hundreds of fighters, vehicles and armoured support seem, at least
for now, over in Cameroon (but not elsewhere as the late May attack on Bosso,
Niger evidenced).
Despite this, Cameroonian armoured forces presently
deployed in the Far North are unlikely to be heading home any time soon, since
major operations against Boko Haram are likely to take place in the future, as
the sect’s major stronghold in the Sambisa Forrest still needs to be
cleared.
Since March 2014, when Boko Haram conducted its first
attack against a Cameroonian Army patrol in the Far North province, the
Cameroonian Defence Forces (CDF) has been at war with the sect. In May 2014,
President Paul Biya decided to scale up the campaign against the jihadists,
thus marking the beginning of a forces’ build up which has resulted in a
current deployment of over 9,000 men in the operational area.
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