Boko Haram attacks six localities, kills at least three civilians

Nigerian armed Islamist group Boko Haram attacked six localities on Sunday in the North of Cameroon almost simultaneously, killing at least three civilians, a source within the Ministry of defence revealed.

"Six attacks were conducted Sunday almost simultaneously" in six localities of the Cameroonian region of the far North, on the border with Nigeria, said the source on condition of anonymity. These locations include Kolofata and Fotokol, two Cameroonian cities under high tension where Boko Haram has multiplied attacks and kidnappings in recent months.

At Fotokol, close to Lake Chad, "at least three civilians were killed" by the Islamists. The overall balance of these attacks "is certainly heavy, including losses in the side of Boko Haram, "but still" undetermined at the moment, according to the same source."

"It was probably coordinated attacks, Boko Haram had armoured vehicles", said this source, specifying that the Cameroonian army had repelled the attackers into Nigerian territory. Questioned by AFP, the Minister of Communication and spokesman of the Government, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, assured Monday evening that "our borders remain impassable".

"Our soldiers are at the front and sparing no efforts. They sacrifice their lives to protect ours", he said, stressing that the Cameroonian army had inflicted "heavy losses" on Boko Haram in recent weeks. "We have the choice to win the war and we will win," the Minister concluded.

For several months, the Islamists have stepped up their armed incursions in Cameroon, bringing the Cameroonian Government to send reinforcements in the far North, where over 1,000 soldiers have been deployed.