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Civilians Freed, 100 Boko Haram Fighters Killed Cameroonian Military Claims

Troops also arrested 100 fighters, including a group leader, from Boko Haram’s strongholds in the Sambisa Forest, which straddles northeastern Nigeria and Cameroon, and in the Lake Chad area, Bakary said.

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The same figures have been cited in a brief statement on state television.

Boko Haram has in recent months increasingly used suicide bombers in northeast Nigeria, northern Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

It will be recalled that due to the concerted efforts of the military, quite a number of towns and villages hitherto held by the Boko Haram terrorists were liberated.

The sweep took place in a few towns along the border with Nigeria.

No independent confirmation of the statement was immediately available from the region, which is inaccessible to the media.

Cameroon’s army spokesman said its forces acted with the backing of the regional task force, which became operational in August but has yet to launch joint raids.

Nigeria and Cameroon share a 1,690-km border.

It is not yet known whether the freed hostages includes any of the 219 schoolgirls abducted from their dormitories in Chibok, Nigeria, last year.

Musa also said that it is important that Cameroon is coordinating the operation with its neighbouring countries, as it denies Boko Haram easy exit routes across the border.

Beti stated that the operation’s success was thanks to the collaboration between Nigeria’s army and the security forces of Cameroon, which is now focused in combating the Boko Haram group.

State radio confirmed the attacks, saying the two suicide bombers were women who killed four people when they blew themselves up.

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Overnight a double suicide bombing by Boko Haram in Waza in the north killed at least three.

A convoy of Cameroon soldiers passes through the northern town of Dabanga as part of a raid against Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram Jun. 2014