Cameroon border town residents flee following Kolofata attack

Most residents of Kolofata, a border town in northern Cameroon attacked by Boko Haram militants two days ago, have fled, leaving schools closed and offices empty.

“Everything is under control but almost all the residents have fled the town,” Babila Akaou, senior divisional officer for the Mayo Sava district, said by phone today.

Kolofata was attacked in the morning of Jan. 12 by hundreds of assailants from Nigeria targeting a military base in town, according to the government.

Cameroonian troops killed 143 insurgents in a gunbattle that lasted more than four hours, Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary told state radio yesterday. One soldier died, he said.

Cameroon has vowed to end Boko Haram incursions into its territory as the Islamist group steps up suicide bomb attacks and raids in Nigeria ahead of general elections next month. A man claiming to be the leader of Boko Haram threatened Cameroon President Paul Biya in a video posted on YouTube Jan. 7.

Biya sent more than 1,000 troops to the border to fight Boko Haram after the wife of Deputy Premier Amadou Ali was captured in July in the north of the country by gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram.

The government plans to send more troops to the border region, including a Rapid Intervention Brigade, Defense spokesman Lt.-Col. Didier Badjeck said in an interview today. “Their attacks are asymmetric, which makes it difficult for the defense forces to pre-empt,” he said.