Cameroon troops kill 92 Boko Haram militants
Cameroon's army killed 92 members of Islamist militant group Boko Haram and freed 850 villagers in a joint operation with Nigerian forces
|||Yaounde - Cameroon's army killed 92 members of Islamist militant group Boko Haram and freed 850 villagers in a joint operation with Nigerian forces, the government of Cameroon said on Friday.
The operation in the Nigerian village of Kumshe, close to the border with Cameroon, was conducted under the auspices of a multinational force fighting Boko Haram, the statement from Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary said.
“Two Cameroonian soldiers were killed (during the operation) by an accidental mine explosion. Five other soldiers were wounded,” Bakary said, adding that the army captured weapons and ammunition and found a centre for production of homemade mines.
There was no immediate comment from Nigeria or independent confirmation of the operation or toll.
Boko Haram seeks to carve out an emirate in northeastern Nigeria and has staged a campaign of suicide and other attacks in Cameroon, Chad and Niger over the past year, including killing as many as 1 000 in Cameroon.
The U.S. military calls Boko Harm the most violent extremist group in the world. The group gained global notoriety for kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria in 2014 and is thought to have killed over 15 000 people over six years.
Reuters