Cameroon army 'kills 92 militants'

Cameroon says its army has killed 92 Boko Haram jihadists and freed 850 people from a village in Nigeria.

Cameroon's army has killed 92 members of Islamist militant group Boko Haram and freed 850 villagers in a joint operation with Nigerian forces, the government of Cameroon says.

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 on Friday.

"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 is seeking 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 US 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.


Share
2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world