June 1, 2014
PremiumTimes
Report says clashes occurred in the country’s northeast.
Cameroon’s military killed at least 40 Boko Haram militants in the country’s northwest weekend, a government radio reported Sunday, a day after Nigeria labelled the Central African nation the weakest link in its fight against the extremist sect.
The clashes leading to the killing occurred in the town of Kouserri, which borders Nigeria and Chad.
The Nigerian government regards Cameroun as not cooperative as Niger and Chad in the fight against Boko Haram.
After a security summit in Paris two weeks ago, Cameroon said it deployed 1,000 troops to its border to help contain the increasingly deadly group.
But Sarkin-Yaki Bello, the Coordinator-General of Nigeria’s Counter Terrorism Centre, said was quoted by Reuters news agency, Saturday, as criticising Cameroon’s effort in rooting Boko Haram.
“Niger has been proactive and aggressive, Chad has shown zero tolerance for Boko Haram,” Mr. Sarkin-Bello said.
“Cameroon, we’ve engaged them to be more pro-active. They haven’t really. Not yet.”
One Cameroonian official denied the allegation, while second blamed funding for the country’s slow response.
Under a pact reached at the Paris summit, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin- all Nigeria’s neighbours, are to step up their action against Boko Haram by maintaining an intelligence sharing platform, improving border patrols, and coordinating their actions.
Currently, Niger allows Nigerian soldiers cross into its borders to pursue Boko Haram militants. A similar understanding is being worked out with Chad, but there is none with Cameroon.
Boko Haram has remained under an international spotlight after abducting more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok in Borno State.
The girls remain in captivity as the Nigerian government, assisted by major world powers, has failed to rescue them.