Cameroon’s army has taken another gallant step at stemming the tides of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram by dismantling their training camp, arresting and killing dozens of the militants while seizing 84 teenagers who were being trained there, on Monday.
The news got to the Cameroonian military through the local people, of a camp in Guirvidig locality, near the border with northeastern Nigeria.
The Lieutenant Colonel Didier Badject, spokesman for the Cameroon’s Ministry Defense reports:
“The Rapid Intervention Battalion of our army immediately launched an attack, seized 84 children between seven and 15 who were undergoing training in the camp, arrested 45 of the trainers and killed many more,” he told Reuters.
It is the first time the army has dismantled a camp and appears to represent a further success for the military after it said it killed 116 militants on Wednesday.
Boko Haram has killed hundreds of people in northeastern Nigeria this year as it campaigns for an Islamist state. The group has also attacked other cities and stepped up cross-border incursions into Cameroon, prompting Cameroon to deploy troops to its northern region.
The children are being investigated to determine whether they are Cameroonian or Nigerian while the 45 militant trainers arrested will be transferred to the capital Yaounde, he said.
Badjeck said there was no precise toll because the fighters fled in pick-up trucks carrying their dead, adding that three pick-ups were burned. He did not say whether the army suffered any casualties during the operation.