Off the wire
• Sri Lankan President reaffirms commitment to ties with China  • Greek tanker attacked by pirates off Nigeria, Cameroon killing Greek officer  • Finland detains Swedish man suspected of human trafficking  • Acceptable solution for all member states needed in Greek financial assistance: Tusk  • Urgent: White House cautious in comments on Jordan's tit-for-tat execution  • Eating disorder more popular in Austria  • Spanish stock market falls 0.19 pct, closes at 10,577 points  • Austrian black labor market to grow in 2015: expert  • Portuguese recycle record amount of packaging in 2014  • 2nd LD Writethru: Senior Al-Shabaab member killed in U.S. airstrike in Somalia  
You are here: 　 Home

At least 300 Boko Haram militants killed in Cameroon

Xinhua, February 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

At least 300 militants of Nigerian Islamic sect Boko Haram were killed Wednesday in a fighting with a joint army of Cameroon and Chad in Cameroon's Far-North Region, according to the latest unofficial figure.

Military sources who declined to be named told Xinhua Wednesday evening that 16 Chadian soldiers and seven Cameroonian soldiers were also killed in the fighting in Fotokol, a town in Far-North Region bordering Nigeria.

According to the sources, dozens of civilians, including 30 Muslims, were killed by Boko Haram in the area.

The Muslims were praying in a Fotokol mosque when the tragedy took place, the sources said.

Around 7,000 heavily armed militants attacked Fotokol Wednesday morning, said the sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

The joint army initially retreated but recaptured Fotokol a few hours later after an offensive.

According to a villager in the area, many civilians left their homes to escape the violence.

The African Union decided at the recent summit to form a multinational troops of 7,500 to fight against Boko Haram.

The leaders of Economic Community of Central Africa States will hold a summit on Feb. 16 in Cameroon's capital Yaounde to discuss the issue on the formation of the troops. Endi