MAROUA, Cameroon
Thirty-two civilians were kidnapped on Sunday when Boko Haram militants raided a village in Cameroon’s Far North region, according to a local military source.
Col. Issa Babatoura said another 27 people were injured in the attack, which occurred in the town of Manawadji in the Far North’s Mayo-Sava area.
Notably, one day earlier, army chiefs-of-staff from Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, Benin and Chad all met in Chadian capital N'djamena.
The five countries – all of which have suffered recent attacks by Boko Haram – belong to a regional coalition tasked with eradicating the threat posed by the notorious militant group.
The Nigeria-led Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) was formally established in June. Earlier this month, following fresh Cameroonian contributions, its total troop strength increased to 12,000.
For most of its existence, Boko Haram has confined its attacks to Nigeria. Recent months, however, have seen the group carry out several attacks in neighboring countries as well.
Boko Haram, which first emerged in the early 2000s by preaching against Nigerian government misrule and corruption, became violent in 2009 after the death of its leader while in police custody.
In the years since, the group has waged a violent insurgency in northeastern Nigeria that has claimed thousands of lives, mostly civilians.
