Twenty-four of the 80 people taken hostage by Nigerian Boko Haram militants in the north of Cameroon have been released.
Boko Haram has freed two dozen hostages after a mass abduction by its militants in Cameroon, as Chad prepares to engage in the international battle against the extremist group. The Boko Haram fighters then fled back into Nigeria, with the fate of the rest of the hostages taken in the raid still unknown.
“Our mission is to hunt down Boko Haram, and we have all the means to do that.”
An army officer based in Cameroon’s far north said Boko Haram had attacked two villages and kidnapped what Cameroonian state media said were 80 hostages. Three people also died in the assault. As the militants retreated, the Chadian army said it was putting 400 military vehicles, attack helicopters, and still unspecified number of soldiers amassed in northern Cameroon into action against Boko Haram, as part of what has become a regional effort to defeat the notoriously violent group.
“We are going to advance (Monday) towards the enemy,” said Chadian army colonel Djerou Ibrahim, who is leading the offensive against Boko Haram, from the strategic crossroads town of Maltam in northern Cameroon.
“Our mission is to hunt down Boko Haram, and we have all the means to do that.”
