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West Africa leaders seek to ban full-face veil to prevent attacks

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West African leaders said Thursday they were seeking to "forbid" women wearing full-face veils in an effort to battle the growing number of female suicide bombers.

The president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Kadre Desire Ouedraogo, told reporters at the close of a two-day summit in Abuja that leaders must take "measures that would forbid this kind of dress that will not allow security personnel to be sure of their identities."

As it loses swathes of territory to the Nigerian army, Boko Haram jihadists have in recent months started launching guerilla-style attacks, using young women and girls as suicide bombers by hiding explosives under their clothes.

Full-face veils including the niqab  worn by the two women at right in this July 23  2015 photo from...
Full-face veils including the niqab, worn by the two women at right in this July 23, 2015 photo from Abidjan, capital of the Ivory Coast, would be barred from wearing such veils in member states of ECOWAS if proposed new bans are enacted
Issouf Sanogo, AFP/File

Boko Haram has used the tactic similarly in Cameroon, Chad and Niger -- countries that have already enforced bans on veils earlier this year.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to end the Boko Haram insurgency by the end of this month, but the deadline looks likely to be missed as attacks persist.

A vigilante civilian and four female suicide bombers were killed Wednesday at a checkpoint in northeast Nigeria after one of them detonated her explosives.

A local official said that four girls between the ages of nine and 12 were stopped at the checkpoint, but the information was not confirmed by another source.

West African leaders said Thursday they were seeking to “forbid” women wearing full-face veils in an effort to battle the growing number of female suicide bombers.

The president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Kadre Desire Ouedraogo, told reporters at the close of a two-day summit in Abuja that leaders must take “measures that would forbid this kind of dress that will not allow security personnel to be sure of their identities.”

As it loses swathes of territory to the Nigerian army, Boko Haram jihadists have in recent months started launching guerilla-style attacks, using young women and girls as suicide bombers by hiding explosives under their clothes.

Full-face veils including the niqab  worn by the two women at right in this July 23  2015 photo from...

Full-face veils including the niqab, worn by the two women at right in this July 23, 2015 photo from Abidjan, capital of the Ivory Coast, would be barred from wearing such veils in member states of ECOWAS if proposed new bans are enacted
Issouf Sanogo, AFP/File

Boko Haram has used the tactic similarly in Cameroon, Chad and Niger — countries that have already enforced bans on veils earlier this year.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to end the Boko Haram insurgency by the end of this month, but the deadline looks likely to be missed as attacks persist.

A vigilante civilian and four female suicide bombers were killed Wednesday at a checkpoint in northeast Nigeria after one of them detonated her explosives.

A local official said that four girls between the ages of nine and 12 were stopped at the checkpoint, but the information was not confirmed by another source.

AFP
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With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

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