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Cameroon Special Forces Free 900 Boko Haram Hostages

  • A convoy of Cameroon soldiers passes through the northern town of Dabanga as part of a raid against Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, Jun. 2014

    A convoy of Cameroon soldiers passes through the northern town of Dabanga as part of a raid against Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, Jun. 2014 | Photo: AFP

Published 3 December 2015
Opinion

A united terror crackdown between neighboring countries is said to have resulted in a blood bath for Boko Haram.

The Cameroonian army, backed by a regional taskforce, said they have killed 100 Boko Haram militants and freed some 900 hostages.

Cameroonian Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo in a national broadcast Wednesday said that a joint effort between military forces from Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and Benin raided a Boko Haram outpost in the Sambisa Forest in a three-day operation.

Reuters map of Nigeria locating fatalities as a result of Boko Haram attacks between January 2011 and January 2015.

Assomo labelled the mission a “special cleanup operation” against Boko Haram. He continued to say that the effort enabled the special forces to kill 100 members of the terror group and “release almost 900 hostages, seized large supplies of arms and munitions as well as black-and-white Islamic State flags." The minister also praised the cooperation between its allies that helped form 8,700 strong regional group to defeat the militants.

Although these reports are yet to be independently verified, it appears the terror crackdown lasted from Nov. 26 to Nov. 28.

RELATED: 32 Killed, 80 Injured in Explosion at Market in Nigeria

Border towns close to Cameroon's border with Nigeria have been the victims of numerous terror attacks in recent months with Boko Haram claiming responsibility for the majority of them.

Local reports say that late Tuesday, around six people were killed in twin suicide attacks in the once-touristic town of Waza, in Northern Cameroon near the Nigerian border.

Waza is home to a national park which is home to lions, elephants and other wildlife that used to attract tourists from all over the world. However since Cameroon's borders with Chad and Nigeria became a target for terrorists, the park has been all but abandoned.

RELATED: Deadly Terror Attacks Strike Cameroon

Boko Haram claimed they were behind the terror attacks in the town of Fotokol in Cameroon's far north on Nov. 24, 2015. According to Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of the region, there were four attackers, with one causing at least five casualties. It is thought the other three suicide bombers blew themselves up without causing any civilian casualties as they were spotted by suicide bomber lookouts who warned others of the threat.

Since the increased terror threat, lookouts have put their lives in danger with one civilian telling the AFP that, "We're on high alert day and night to protect our city from Boko Haram kamikaze attacks."

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