Boko Haram Kills 16 In North Cameroon

Yaounde: Boko Haram fighters killed 16 civilians in Cameroon's far north overnight, targetting a village where several members of the Islamist group were recently arrested, officials said today.

The Boko Haram attack in the village of Gouderi was "an act of reprisal. The jihadists acted after the arrest of a number of their comrades there," a local self-defence group official said. "Boko Haram slaughtered 16 people," added the official who requested anonymity. The attack and the death toll were confirmed by a security services source.

Since 2014, when Cameroon entered the war against Boko Haram, the Islamist fighters have killed 2,000 civilians and military personnel in the far north of the country, and kidnapped a thousand more, according to International Crisis Group (ICG) figures.

Across the Nigerian border a suicide attack at a mosque left five people dead.

Boko Haram typically never claims responsibility but has used suicide bombing as a frequent tactic in its eight-year insurgency to establish a hardline Islamic state. Since the group emerged eight years ago it has launched attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad -- the nations bordering Lake Chad -- and caused the deaths of at least 20,000 people.

AFP