NEWS> cameroon soldiers kill 180 boko haram members

A fierce gunfight launched  against the fundamentalist Islamist group, Boko Haram, by Camerounian soldiers has led to  the killing   of no fewer than 180 insurgents and two gendarmes  around a Nigerian  border with Cameroun.

It was gathered that during the battle which took place on Tuesday evening, many of  the wounded insurgents   were also arrested.

About 200 rifles, 70 machine guns and heavy military hardware were said to have been  recovered from the insurgents by the soldiers.

A reliable military source confirmed the development  to our correspondent shortly after the the Nigerian Army in Kano State disclosed that it  had foiled a plot to bomb Kano during the forthcoming  Sallah festival  by uncovering  a bomb factory in Gezawa Local Government Area.

It was gathered that the Camerounian authorities directed  the soldiers to launch the  attack against the Nigerian   gunmen, who had earlier on Tuesday,  ambushed and killed two gendarmes on patrol in  the border community.

Our source said the  soldiers, while  pursuing   the insurgents, sent a signal to   their Nigerian counterparts,   to be on the alert to avoid  the escape of the fleeing insurgents.

 According to the source, the  number of those killed,  the arrests and  the  recovered arms   indicated that many  Boko Haram  members, who were forced out of Nigeria through military operations, had already “settled comfortably”  in Cameroun.

He said, “The Camerounian troops have been involved in a serious confrontation with the insurgents. They have killed over 180 of them.

“Almost 200 rifles and 70 machine guns were recovered from them by Camerounian  soldiers.

 “What led to this operation was that the insurgents killed two  gendarmes on patrol around the border with Nigeria on Tuesday. I think this angered them to order a comprehensive raid of the hideouts of the insurgents.

 “You can see from the casualty figure and the level of seizures that they were already comfortable in that part of Cameroun until this incident.

 “Ironically, the Camerounians who had  been reluctant in spite of complaints by Nigeria at the diplomatic level are the ones now  reaching out to us to ensure that the fleeing insurgents are not allowed to escape. So, I can tell you that the heat is on them.”

 It was also gathered that  Nigerien soldiers  in  the Multinational Joint Task Force  killed an unspecified number of  Boko Haram members on  some island communities  near Lake Chad on Sunday.

Investigations   revealed that the Nigerien component of the MNJTF  went after  the insurgents on learning of the killing of one of them.

Our  source said  the intensified military action against the insurgents had made the nation’s northern border rather too  hot for them.

 When our correspondent contacted the Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen Chris Olukolade, he said,  “Our neighbouring countries, either through the instrumentality of the Multi National Joint Task Force or through their security instruments,  are involved in operations to complement what we are doing against terrorism.

“I am aware that the MNJTF and  Nigerian security agencies   are combing everywhere for any strange movement in our  territory,”  Olukolade said.

Also in Abuja on Wednesday,  the Commander ‘3’  Brigade of the Nigerian Army,  Brig. Gen Illiyasu Abba, said that  operatives raided a house in  Gunduwawa,  Gezawa LGA and discovered a bomb factory.

 He  told journalists at a press briefing in Kano  that  bomb making items recovered from the factory were meant to carry out attacks in Kano during the  Sallah and other festivals this year.

 A young man suspected to be a child of the owner of the   house  rented out   to the suspected terrorists was shot dead.

Abba  said, “At about 2 am on October  8, a combined team of the JTF troops and Department of State Services raided two Boko Haram terrorists’ hideouts at Gunduwawa village in the Gezawa Local Government Area.

 “The raid, which was conducted following a lead on intelligence reports, made no arrests as the terrorists fled the village on the approach of the JTF troops and DSS personnel.

 “The weapons  and other dangerous materials were meant to wreak havoc on Kano during the Eid-el-Kabir and other festivities before the end of the year.’’

 He listed Improvised Explosive Devices, ‘two AK 58 with 193 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition, one AK 47  magazine with 107 rounds of 5.56 millimeter ammunition, bows and arrows as some of the recovered items.

Three primed cylinders of IEDs, one primed explosive suicide back pack, 18 empty IED cylinders, 24 detonators,   a small bag of fertiliser,  IED timers  cortex wires, three remote control devices, five Motorola hand held radios, four communicators, six alarm clocks, two cartons of  nine -volt batteries, a scale, one external hard drive and one heavy duty charger/battery were also recovered from the house.