Cameroon: 900 Boko Haram hostages freed

At least 100 Boko Haram militants were arrested and over 900 of their hostages freed in towns bordering Nigeria, a defence minister said.

Yaounde - At least 100 Boko Haram insurgents were arrested and more than 900 of their hostages freed in a special military operation in towns bordering Nigeria the past week, Cameroon’s defence minister said on Wednesday.

The announcement by Defence Minister Joseph Beti comes after two suspected Boko Haram female suicide bombers killed six people when they blew themselves up in northern Cameroon on Tuesday night.

A third suicide bomber was killed by security forces before she could detonate her explosives, said Joseph Nouma, the commander of Cameroon’s counter terrorism forces.

The attack took place in the locality of Waza.

Beti said “significant amounts of arms and ammunitions” were seized from the “terrorists” in the special operation between November 26 and 28.

At least 100 people have been killed in suicide attacks in Cameroon’s Far North region since July.

Boko Haram, which is based in Nigeria, has been blamed for all the attacks.

A Cameroon military official said 10 members of Boko Haram were arrested on Tuesday in the towns of Manawatchi I and II, in the far north of the country.

DPA