Cameroon and Chad launch offensive against Boko Haram Sunday morning

Cameroonian and Chadian forces have launched a joint offensive against Boko Haram positions near Cameroonian localities on the Nigerian border on Sunday morning, Cameroonian military sources reported.

The units of the Islamic sect localized at Sague and Kreta, two locations in Northeast Nigeria neighboring those of Hile Hifa and Balgaram in the region of the Far North of Cameroon, suffered more than two hours of Chadian intensive air strikes supported by artillery fire from the Cameroonian army, said one of the sources reached by Xinhua.

The results of this offensive is currently not known, but according to first-hand estimates, the terrorist group which recently pledged allegiance to the Islamic State Organization have recorded heavy losses.

Some 2,500 Chadian soldiers were sent in mid-January by the N'Djamena authorities to lend a hand to Cameroon to counter this terrorist threat.

Almost the same number was also sent later to Nigeria, where these forces had managed to dislodge the Islamist fighters in several cities and towns under their control including Gambaru and Dikwa.

But since the withdrawal of the Chadian troops at the request of the Nigerian government, Boko Haram has returned to occupy some of the liberated territories. For three to four months, a massive presence of the Islamist fighters is reported around the Cameroon border and in the area of ??Lake Chad.