The Cameroonian army has killed around 100 Boko Haram militants in a military operation that targeted a training camp set up by the group in the country’s Far North Region near the Nigerian border, a security source said Monday.
“The camp was reported by locals from Bornori town, who tired of the group’s abuses in Cameroon,” the source told The Anadolu Agency (AA) on condition of anonymity.
According to the source, the operation on Sunday resulted in the destruction of the camp, which had been set up by Boko Haram about 10km from the border with Nigeria’s restive Borno State.
The source did not state when exactly the camp had been set up or the nationality of the slain Boko Haram members.
Cameroonian authorities, for their part, have yet to officially comment on the reports.
Another Cameroonian security source said his country might not publicly announce the destruction of the training camp.
“Cameroon has always denied being a rear-base for Boko Haram. So before officially announcing the destruction of the camp, it must figure out how to explain the fact that a Boko Haram camp had existed on Cameroonian territory,” the security source told AA.
Nigeria’s Boko Haram militant group has been blamed for several previous cross-border attacks in Cameroon.
Boko Haram, which means “Western education is forbidden” in Nigeria’s local Hausa language, first emerged in the early 2000s preaching against government misrule and corruption.
The group later became violent, however, following the death of its leader in 2009 while in police custody.
In the roughly five years since, the shadowy sect has been blamed for numerous attacks on places of worship and government institutions, along with thousands of deaths.
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