Cameroonians marching against Boko Haram last yearA landmine planted by Boko Haram in Cameroon left at least four soldiers seriously injured on Tuesday morning, Cameroonian newspaper, L’Oeil du Sahel, says, a reminder that the war against terrorism around the Lake Chad Basin is far from over.
The newspaper, known for its accurate reports on Boko Haram in Cameroon, said the four soldiers were hit by a mine planted at Mourdas area in the counhtry’s far north, not far from the border with Nigeria, where the terrorists the Nigerian leader, Muhammadu Buhari, referred to as “the mindless, Godless” militants are based.
In recent weeks, the terrorists have escalated attacks in Cameroon, killing about 30 people in various attacks within days, including a suicide bombing on June 30 that killed 15 people and injured about 50. A day earlier on June 29, another suicide attack killed at least 11 people in the same region.
Amnesty International, known to be sending its reports exclusively to western media houses, said about 500 people have been killed by Boko Haram in Cameroon in the last 12 months.
Since 2013, Boko Haram has killed at least 1300 people in Cameroon and over 25, 000 in Nigeria since 2009. The militants who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in March last year, have also displaced more than two million people in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Thousands have been kidnapped, including the over 200 Chibok girls abducted in 2014.
The mass abduction shocked the world and might have contributed to the defeat of former President Goodluck Jonathan during the 2015 election President Buhari won.