YAOUNDE, Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Six Cameroonian soldiers were
killed in an attack by Boko Haram militants in the far north of the country, authorities said.
Nine other soldiers were injured in the Friday attack carried out on
a military post at Soueram near Fotokol in the Lake Chad region by
armed men, officials in the local administration said.
Five soldiers died during the attack and a sixth succumbed to
his injuries on Sunday.
Soueram is very close to the border with Nigeria in the
restive Lake Chad region.
Local media reported that the attacks started last Friday and ended in the early hours of Sunday. The attackers also left with huge amounts of ammunition and weapons. The military has confirmed there were attacks but did not say how many troops were killed. It said however the attackers suffered heavy casualties.
The attacks took place just after General Rene Claude Meka, Cameroon’s chief of defense staff, visited the central African state’s northern border with Nigeria and said his troops had drastically reduced Boko Haram’s ability to regroup and organize large scale attacks on military posts as very few have been reported within the past two months.
Meka said after the fresh attacks, they have taken additional security measures to protect the population. He said troops have been redeployed.
He said the morale of Cameroon’s military fighting Boko Haram terrorists has not been dampened by the attacks as the troops are more than ever before determined not only to consolidate their achievements but to completely crush the fighters. He said his troops have been redeployed and the situation is under control.
Meka said the attacks on military bases show that that the terror group still has access to weapons illegally circulating in the region.
Twenty-seven attacks targeting travelers and villagers were also reported within the past two weeks. The fighters seized money and food and held 6 people for ransom. Their whereabouts are not known.
On June 10, 17 Cameroonian soldiers were killed in an attack
in the same region.
The Boko Haram group began its bloody insurgency in northeastern Nigeria in 2009, and it spread into neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military response. More than 27,000 people have been killed and two million others displaced, sparking a dire humanitarian crisis in the region. — NNN-AGENCIES
