Boko Haram battle leaves six Cameroon, nine Chadian soldiers dead

Boko Haram battle leaves six Cameroon, nine Chadian soldiers dead

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As troops kill 250 insurgents
Cameroon’s army killed at least 50 Boko Haram insurgents on Wednesday
and lost six of its own soldiers in clashes with the Nigerian Islamist group in
the border town of Fotokol, Cameroon’s information minister said.

The insurgents attacked Fotokol early on Tuesday and fierce fighting
ensued for the most of the morning until they were driven out of the town,
Issa Tchiroma told Reuters by telephone.

“Six soldiers were killed and at least 50 Boko Haram fighters died in
combat,” the minister said, adding that the toll was provisional and there
could be more casualties.

Cameroon’s L’Oeil du Sahel newspaper, based in the Far North Region,
reported on Wednesday that Boko Haram fighters massacred several dozen
people in the town and slit the throats of several others in Mosques and
homes.

The minister declined to comment, saying he was waiting for an official
report from the defence ministry.

Meanwhile, nine Chadian soldiers were killed and 21 others were wounded in
a battle with Boko Haram militants in the north-eastern Nigerian towns of
Gambaru and Ngala, Chadian state television said on Wednesday.

Chad has deployed 2,500 troops as part of a regional effort to take on the
militant group. Earlier its army said it had killed more than 200 militants on
Tuesday in the battle in the towns, which are near Nigeria’s border with
Cameroon.