Boko Haram launches rocket attacks on Cameroon

Since the beginning of the second week of October, the Boko Haram Islamic sect has embarked on a new wave of attacks on Cameroonian territory from their Banki base, border to Amchide in the Mayo Sava Division of the Far North Region.

The attacks, The Post learnt, are characterised by rocket shots on towns sharing borders with Nigeria.

About 5.30pm, October 16, dozens of Boko Haram terrorists, sheltered behind three armoured vehicles, raided the town of Amchide, Far North Region. They immediately attacked a Rapid Intervention Battalion, BIR outpost from where they fired a rocket. The Cameroonian military immediately responded, killing over 100 elements of the Boko Haram group in a fire exchange.

Following a report published by Chinese News agency, Xinhua, the Cameroonian army was involved in a brutal exchange with over 1,000 Boko Haram terrorists in the evening of October 15, in Amchide. In the course of the exchange, over 100 of the assailants were killed. The agency reported on October 16, that eight Cameroonian soldiers and 20 civilians were killed in the exchange.

A press release that the Cameroonian Ministry of Defense issued over the weekend, confirmed that eight Cameroonian soldiers were killed. The release says the Cameroonian defense forces killed 107 Boko Haram militants in Amchide and Limani and destroyed truck loads of ammunition. It was, however, silent on civilian casualties.

A security source told The Post that: "The attack took place on Wednesday, October 15 evening, while the match between Cameroon and Sierra Leone was going on in Yaounde. It targeted one of our security posts.”

In the same vein, on the night breaking October 14 – 15, some elements of the Boko Haram sect fired over 10 rockets on the town of Fotokol. In the course of the rocket shots, they tried to get into the town through the Makambara neighbourhood.

On the eve of October 13, elements of the Cameroon army killed an assailant of the sect and arrested four others who had succeeded in getting into the town via Makambara. The Cameroonian army made use of her armoured cars to contain the attacks of the sect.

According to a military source, “the army is doing all it can to establish a security perimeter on the other side of the Nigerian border starting from her camps in Fotokol. Every attempt to retrieve corpses sparks up a shootout from our end.” Since this security perimeter has been established, no one approaches the mapped out area. One person has been reported dead in Fotokol after the rocket shot. He died in Djaborona, at the town’s new market.

According to an inhabitant of Fotokol, Mahamat Djibrine, two rockets landed on the market, accounting for the death of a trader. Another source holds that “at the moment the army cannot do anything against rockets shot from Nigeria by fighters who are mainly mobile and take advantage of the night to launch their attacks.”

As a result of this, many inhabitants of Fotokol are leaving the town. On October 15 for example, some inhabitants of Fotokol took advantage of the little calm which was returning to the town to quit the place.

Meanwhile, in Kerawa and Kolofata, more people seem to be returning to the area since the release of some of their brothers who were kidnapped by the Boko Haram sect. Most of them, who had taken refuge in the town of Mora, are returning.

Firing of rockets indiscriminately or incursions are becoming a routine of the sect. With this new form of rocket attacks, fears of extensive damage are heightened in the region.

This is the umpteenth attempt by the terrorists, since they set up in the Nigerian city of Banki, border to Amchide. Hinging their claims on allegations that circa FCFA 2.5 billion was paid to Boko Haram for the release of hostages last week, observers say the sect is becoming too daring, looking for another opportunity to make more money.

According to the Nigerian website, Sahara Reporters, the return of arms and the release of some prisoners also featured as conditions for the release of the hostages.