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Cameroon army says it has killed 100 Boko Haram militants

Wednesday, 02 December 2015 1:48 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 02 December 2015 1:49 PM ]

The file photo shows Cameroonian soldiers patrolling in the town of Fotokol, on the border with Nigeria. (AFP Photo)

Cameroonian forces have killed about 100 Boko Haram Takfiri militants and freed some 900 captives held by the Nigeria-based militant group.

"A special clean-up operation from November 26 to 28" against Boko Haram militants in the border area with Nigeria "neutralized more than 100" of them, Cameroon Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo said in a statement broadcast on national radio on Wednesday.

Cameroon troops managed to free "almost 900 hostages, seize a large arms and munitions cache and black-and-white flags," the statement added, referring to the flag of the Daesh Takfiri terrorists.

A handout picture released by the Nigerian military and taken on May 23, 2015, shows arms and munition recovered from Boko Haram Takfiri militants during military operations in Dikwa, Borno State, Nigeria. (AFP Photo)

The identities of the freed hostages are still unknown as nothing was mentioned in the statement and the region remains inaccessible to the media.

Cameroon, as well as other regional countries, has been the target of attacks by Boko Haram militants.

The African country has joined up in an 8,700-strong regional force with soldiers from Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Benin, to eradicate the Takfiri militant group.

The Boko Haram militancy began in 2009 with the aim of toppling the central government in Nigeria.

At least 17,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million made homeless since then.

Boko Haram has pledged allegiance to Daesh, which is wreaking havoc in Syria and Iraq.

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