Boko Haram suffers setback in border clash amid growing fears of expansion
The killing of 143 militants from the Nigeria-based Islamic extremist group could be a major blow to their expansion strategy. Hundreds of people died during a recent Boko Haram attack on a Nigerian garrison town near the border.
The killing of 143 militants from the Nigeria-based Islamic extremist group could be a major blow to their expansion strategy. Hundreds of people died during a recent Boko Haram attack on a Nigerian garrison town near the border.
Cameroonian soldiers killed at least 143 Boko Haram fighters when the Islamist militant group attacked a military base along the Nigerian border on Monday, amid fears that the insurgency could spiral into a broader regional crisis.
Cameroon's minister of communications, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, said in a statement that the failed assault resulted in the heaviest loss sustained so far by Boko Haram in Cameroon. In addition to the 143 militants killed, he added, the group lost 鈥渋mportant warfare equipment made up of assault rifles of various brands, heavy weapons and bullets of all calibers.鈥�
Mr. Bakary said one Cameroonian solider was killed and four were wounded in the assault on the military base in Kolofata, a town in the far northwest of Cameroon.
The raid was the latest in a series of increasingly brazen attacks by Boko Haram from its stronghold in northeastern Nigeria. On Saturday,聽explosives strapped to a girl said to be no older than 10 years old聽detonated at a crowded marketplace in the city of Maiduguri, killing at least 20 people and wounding many more. As The New York Times reports:
Boko Haram鈥檚 failed cross-border attack into Cameroon follows a raid last week on the garrison town of Baga in northeastern Nigeria, in what many observers say may be one of the group鈥檚 deadliest attacks ever.聽
While local officials initially estimated as many 2,000 people died in Baga, the Nigerian Defense Ministry countered that the number was no higher than 150, according to the BBC. Nigeria is often accused of underestimating death tolls in order to downplay the threat of Boko Haram.
With Boko Haram now in control of Baga, those who fled are fearful to return to bury their dead. CNN reported on Monday that bodies still littered the bushes around the town.聽
"It is still not safe to go and pick them up for burial," Musa Bukar, the chairman of the local government where Baga is located, told CNN.
Boko Haram takeover of Baga, which sits on the border with Chad, and even their failed attack of the Cameroonian army base, speaks to the group鈥檚 growing regional influence and its strategic goals. The group鈥檚 territorial gains have led to fears of an outright collapse of government control in northeastern Nigeria since the Nigerian military has done little to curb its spread. As the BBC鈥檚 Will Ross reports from Lagos: