B’Haram: ‘We Kill Them, But… – Cameroonian Soldiers

Cameroonian soldiers have expressed worry that the number of Boko Haram terrorists keep increasing even though they have killed plenty of them.
According to Col. Joseph Nouma, commander of Operation ALPHA, a special military operation set up by Cameroon’s government to fight the Nigerian terrorist group, the number of militants may be greater than is widely believed, CNN reports.
Cameroon’s security forces believe the terrorist sect is now recruiting in the country.
“We don’t doubt that Boko Haram is recruiting in Cameroon,” said Col. Joseph Nouma.
He explained that most of the communities bordering Nigeria have been emptied of men between the ages of 10 and 45 as many of them are found training with the insurgents across the Nigerian border.
He pointed out that this was making it difficult for Cameroon’s defense forces to adequately estimate the power of the sect, adding that there is no reliable estimate of the group’s strength.
Nouma said: “We kill them, but they keep on coming.”
“Boko Haram is a permanent metamorphosis, dying every day but recruiting every day as well, and this complicates a lot of things for us,” Col. Jacob Kodji, interim commander of the 4th Military Region added.
Nouma is of the belief that most of the attacks the country has suffered were carried out by Cameroonians fighting for Boko Haram.
“Also, the militants’ ability to hit several different places at once, and with precision, suggests that there are people over here giving them information,” Nouma said.
Boko Haram is an Islamist terrorist movement based in northeastern part on Nigeria. The group opposes the Westernization of Nigerian society and seeks the establishment of an Islamic state in the country.
They have carried out a campaign of terror in northern Nigeria, killing thousands, taking hundreds captive, rendering many homeless and capturing territories in some Northeastern states.
In recent times, they have spread their attacks to neighbouring countries like Chad, Cameroon and Niger, forcing troops from these countries to join forces with Nigeria to rout the insurgents. Ever since they joined forces, the military has recovered most of the territories captured by Boko Haram.
The Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, Kenneth Minimah had attributed the successes recorded by the military in the last few days to the joint operations between Nigerian forces and their Cameroon, Chad and Niger counterparts.