Cameroonians back army operations against Boko Haram
Thousands of people, including government ministers, have staged a demonstration in Cameroonian capital, Yaounde, to voice their support for the Central African country’s army in its fight against Nigeria-based Takfiri Boko Haram militants.
On Saturday, between 10,000 and 15,000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Yaounde, calling for the killing of Boko Haram’s purported leader, Abubakar Shekau.
They waved the flags of Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria – the three neighboring nations currently fighting alongside each other to defeat Boko Haram Takfiris.
“This march symbolizes Cameroon’s unity against Boko Haram,” the country's Labor Minister Gregoire Owona told the marchers.
“It was important to be here for me, for my brothers who are on the front, for my country,” marcher Philomene Ekombo, said with a Cameroonian flag in hand.
At least 86 Boko Haram militants were killed in an operation carried out by Cameroon’s army in the country’s Waza region near the border with Nigeria on February 16.
Defense Ministry spokesman, Didier Badjeck, said five Cameroonian soldiers also lost their lives in the operation.
On January 12, the Cameroonian army killed 143 Boko Haram militants as they mounted an offensive on a military camp in the northern town of Kolofata, located approximately 840 kilometers (521 miles) northeast of the capital, Yaounde.
Cameroon also launched airstrikes against Boko Haram on December 28, 2014, after nearly 1,000 militants from the group assaulted a military camp located near its northern border. The Cameroonian troops in the camp were forced to flee. The base was, however, later retaken.
Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” waged its brutal militancy six years ago, and the conflict has left at least 13,000 dead and forced over a million to flee their homes.
The five African countries of Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Benin pledged earlier this month to deploy an 8,700-strong force to fight the Boko Haram militancy.
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