At least 100 Boko Haram militants killed by Cameroonian army: spokesman
Xinhua, December 3, 2015 Adjust font size:
Cameroonian army spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck said in a press release Wednesday evening Cameroon's troops had conducted a sweep operation between November 26 and 28 along the western border with Nigeria and killed at least 100 members of Boko Haram and freed 900 people the group had held hostage.
"Cameroon is part of an 8,700-strong regional task force also comprising troops from Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Benin that has pledged to destroy Boko Haram, which though based mainly in Nigeria has become a major threat to wider regional security...
"The BIR (rapid intervention brigade) did a sweep operation on six villages in Mayo-Sava Division of the Far North Region. In November, they captured arms and flags from Islamic State to whom Boko Haram pledged allegiance in March, and killed over 100 militants including a senior militant called Al Hadji Gana," he said.
He added that the hostages were residents of those villages who had been taken hostage by that group, adding that a large number of them had been handed over to a camp for the displaced.
It should be noted that Cameroon has suffered regular cross-border attacks in the Far-North Region, including several twin suicide bomb attacks with the last one being on the outskirts of the locality of Waza on Tuesday night during which the suicide bombers killed both themselves and four civilian.
Suicide bombings, often carried out by young women, mainly girls below 20 years old, recruited by the barbaric militant group, are becoming almost daily occurrences in the Far-North Region of Cameroon. Enditem