13 civilians killed in Boko Haram attack in Cameroon

Yaounde: At least 13 civilians were killed, and another was injured in an overnight attack blamed on Boko Haram militants in Cameroon’s Far North region, an official told Xinhua Thursday.

The attack occurred Thursday between 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. local time in Madegoua, a locality in the Makary subdivision of the Logone-et-Chari division, while residents were asleep.

The official, who requested anonymity, said the militants invaded the locality and killed the 13 civilians on the spot. The lone survivor was rushed to a local hospital, where he was receiving treatment.

Local municipal authorities said the attack was believed to be a reprisal after security forces seized a large stock of ammunition intended for Boko Haram fighters several months ago, Xinhua News Agency reported.

In August, suspected Boko Haram fighters killed at least eight people and injured one in an overnight attack on Kangaleri village in the Mayo-Sava division of Cameroon’s Far North region, local sources said.

The sources said the attack occurred at around 11 p.m. local time on August 7, when the gunmen entered the village under cover of darkness, a tactic the group frequently uses, before fleeing the area.

Six residents were killed at the scene, while three others were badly wounded and taken for treatment. Two of the injured later died in a hospital.

Authorities have not yet confirmed the exact circumstances of the raid.

In a separate incident the same night, gunmen believed to be from Boko Haram were reported in Tourou, a town in the Mokolo district near the border with Nigeria. Local sources said the assailants looted shops and livestock and damaged a market on the outskirts of the town. No deaths were reported from that attack.

The Boko Haram terror group has been active in Cameroon’s Far North region since 2014, inflicting heavy human and material losses across the region.

–IANS