Boko Haram insurgents attack military base, kill five soldiers in Cameroon

An army base located in Cameroon’s far north region has been attacked by Boko Haram, resulting in the killing of five soldiers and one civilian.

The country’s defence ministry via a radio statement said the attack took place on Monday at about 9:30pm.

According to the ministry, a group “of heavily armed terrorists of the Boko Haram sect, aboard several light tactical vehicles, attacked the command post in the locality of Zigue”.

“After serious fighting, the insurgents retreated, apparently toward the localities of Koutala, Gazalful, and Goulmade, Borno state in the north-east of Nigeria.

The ministry said five soldier and one civilian were killed in the attack, adding that three soldiers and one civilian were wounded and taken to a health centre for treatment.

It also noted that several of the assailants were neutralized “and their bodies cartes away as the terrorists retreated”.

“The Troops remain on high alert throughout the far north and across the border in order to prevent possible new assaults by the terrorist hydra Boko Haram which seems to have bounced back in full force following the internal structuring of its ideology and its conquest of the field,” the statement reads.

Similarly, Boko Haram insurgents on July 24 overran an army base in Cameroon’s far north region, killing seven soldiers and wounding several others.

Security reports had said the attack was the deadliest on the Cameroon army in more than 10 months.

More than 2000 people have reportedly been killed in the region since the insurgency started in 2014.

Earlier in the year, Ibrahim Attahiru, former chief of army staff, had said Nigeria will partner with Cameroonian and Chadian troops to end the insurgency in the country.