Cameroon’s Ministry of Defence has placed the death toll in last night’s attack by the Boko Haram sect at three.
In a statement following an attack in the Dabanga locality in the country’s Far North region, the army spokesperson, Navy Captain Atonfack Cyrille Serge says the attack happened in the night of Saturday 27 to Sunday 28 March 2021.
“The attack was led by hundreds of heavily armed men operating on board light tactical vehicles and motorcycles. After several hours of fierce combat, the attackers were routed, and several of their equipment and weapons confiscated,” the army official said.
On the Cameroonian side, a preliminary report, he noted, placed the death toll at three with one soldier and two civilians killed.
The attack, he added, saw two soldiers injured, “one of whom has been evacuated to the Höpital de la Renaissance in Ndjamena, Chad for emergency neurosurgical treatment”.
Other casualties revealed included one armoured vehicle partially damaged and ten shops and one cargo truck burned down.
On the other hand, the army spokesperson revealed that the military got “… several assailants neutralised, including 03 abandoned bodies, and the others carried away by the terrorists while retreating”.
Six tactical vehicles owned by the sect were immobilized and several weapons and weapon accessories recovered.
“The troops remain on high alert throughout the Far-North Region to continue to effectively contain the attacks of the hydra Boko-Haram whose manifestations are recurrent,” Navy Captain Atonfack Cyrille Serge averred.
The recent duel counts as one of many recurrent attacks launched by the terrorist sect in the past months. It should be recalled that President Paul Biya while campaigning for the 2018 presidential election announced that the group had been defeated and chased out of Cameroon soil.