At least no fewer than 40 person believed to be Boko Haram insurgents have been killed by Cameroon security forces in a raid in Kousseri, a town that shares border with Nigeria and Chad.
Cameroon’s state radio and sources in the French-speaking country presidency confirmed the clash which , occurred after the release of 3 missionaries who had been in Boko Haram’s captivity since April.
The three ex-hostages, two Italian priests and a Canadian nun were flown out of Maroua airport, in Cameroun’s far north on board a military aircraft yesterday morning. According to a Camerounian security source, they were released in the early hours of yesterday and picked up by troops near the border with Nigeria, where they were being held captive. “We spent a week in Nigeria for the negotiations, and they were finally handed over to us during the night,” a Cameroun military source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Nigeria recently accussed the Cameroonians of being passive in the fight to stamp out Boko Haram.
But in recent weeks, the Cameroon government have committed over 1,000 troops to wade war against Boko Haram