1,500 children abducted by Boko Haram

About 1,500 children have been kidnapped since late 2014 in Cameroon by Nigeria's Islamist group Boko Haram who used them for odd jobs and as combatants, criticized Najat Rochdi, the humanitarian coordinator of the UN in Cameroon.

In an interview with AFP in Geneva (Switzerland), she also explained that Boko Haram was using the children as human shields during the fights."The scheme they use is inhuman," Ms. Rochdi said.

The Far North region has been the center of numerous attacks by Nigerian Islamists whose insurrection and repression has already claimed at least 15,000 lives since 2009. The attacks by Boko Haram in Cameroon had started in July 2014 when the looted food.

Cameroon formally declared war on August 1, 2014 against Boko Haram, who made the north a sanctuary.

Their presence in the region has intensified with the burning of villages, killings and abduction of children. "The information I have is that about 1,500 children have been abducted”, Ms. Rochdi said.

These children are mostly used by Boko Haram to do odd jobs such as carrying tents or fetch water. Others are used as fighters on the frontline.

"To my knowledge, the children were used as human shields and were between eight and 12 years," reported the UN official, explaining that Cameroonian soldiers were traumatized from having to confront children.

The Nigerian Islamist group have suffered significant defeats since the start of the war with the Chadian and Nigerien army in Nigeria.

The Cameroonian army, including its exclusive unit of the Bataillon d'intervention Rapide (BIR), fought the Nigerian Islamists on its border.

The Nigerian army on the other hand, destroyed several camps of Boko Haram and released several hundred people - women and children held hostage by Islamist insurgents in their stronghold of Sambisa forest (northeast Nigeria) since April.

However, the Islamists are still stationed along the Cameroon-Nigerian border near the Sambisa forest and in the Mandara Mountains.

Recent deadly attacks in their stronghold of north-eastern Nigeria have shown their capacity to inflict harm remains high.