An attack by at least 40 members of Boko Haram in the Cameroonian town of Kerawa was repelled on Sunday morning by the army, but a civilian was killed.
Local newspaper, L’Oeil du Sahel, said the army pursued the terrorists right inside the Nigerian territory (Kerawa – Nigeria) and confrontations lasted for some time, just two days after three Boko Haram members were gunned down in the same town following similar confrontations in Cameroon’s far north.
Kerawa is located along the border with Nigeria and is divided into Kerawa – Cameroon and Kerawa – Nigeria.
On Friday night, two members of the civilian vigilance group were gunned down by Boko Haram in the locality of Ganse also in Cameroon’s far north where the hostilities have been taking place.
Also on Friday morning, three members of Boko Haram were killed in Kerawa following heavy gun fight with the Cameroonian army.
The war against Boko Haram continues to claim many lives with at least 1300 civilians killed in Cameroon since 2013 and over 70 soldiers gunned down there within the same period. In Nigeria, more than 25, 000 people have been murdered since 2009 and over 2.5 million people have been displaced, including the 500, 000 children who are now out of school.
Mines planted by the terrorists who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in March last year and have since modelled their barbarism after the Middle East killers, have been killing many people around the Sambisa forest where the militants are based, an area 18 times the size of Nigeria’s most populous city of Lagos.
President Paul Biya of Cameroon has vowed many times that the military will crush the terrorists within months but with the killings and bombings continuing, many are wondering if the 83-year old leader who has been in power for 33 years still has anything to offer to a country bent by poverty and gargantuan corruption, and now by terrorism.
In Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari has claimed many times that the terrorists have been “technically defeated” since December, but hundreds of people have been killed since those claims were made with big parts of Borno State still in the hands of the terrorists as well as millions of people still displaced by the ravaging war.
At least 60, 000 Nigerian refugees remain stranded at the Minawao camp in Cameroon’s far north and thousands have fled to Chad and Niger.