BokoHaram Shoots 35 Civilians, 7 Soldiers In Cameroon, Kills 1 In Violent Gun Battle

 

At least 35 civilians and seven soldiers have been shot by Boko Haram in Cameroon’s far north during a violent gun battle in Kolofata, a locality not far from the Nigerian border where Abubakar Shekau’s men are based. One person has been killed.

Cameroonian newspaper, L’Oeil du Sahel, said the gun battle, which was taking place in Ndaba in Kolofata. left many terrorists dead.

The battle occurred hours after a suicide bomber detonated explosives in Cameroon on Friday morning, killing himself and injuring at least one civilian, and reminding the Central African nation that terror attacks there might be far from over.

The bombing took place in the locality of Tchakarmari in Cameroon’s far north, where a spate of blasts has left many dead in recent months.

Boko Haram has wreaked havoc in Cameroon in recent years, killing about 2000 civilians and over 150 policemen and soldiers in over 500 suicide and gun attacks. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and thousands of women and children have been kidnapped with many of them turned into sex slaves.




This week, at least three Cameroonian soldiers were killed by a landmine planted by the Nigeria-based terrorists and five others were injured when their truck climbed the buried bomb.

President Paul Biya of Cameroon has vowed many times that the terrorists the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has described as the “godless, mindless” militants would be defeated, but as weeks and months passed, it has become obvious that the ruthless terrorists who promised in a recent video to behead him, were far from being defeated while Mr. Biya has remained in Yaounde, too scared to visit a region battered by atrocities.

Mr. Biya is already facing protests in the English speaking parts of his country with populations there saying they want either a federal system of government or pure independence because of perceived discrimination against them.

But other Cameroonians from various parts of the country say the poverty being experienced in Bamenda and Buea is the same everywhere. They all accused Mr. Biya of failing to lift Cameroon out of poverty.