IMAN Chairman condemns barbaric Boko Haram attacks in Cameroon
Domingo, 19 Abril 2015
Cameroon attack: Boko Haram kills 19, 'many beheaded'
FRANCE 24
Nineteen people were killed in Thursday night’s attack on a Cameroonian village by Nigeria-based Boko Haram militants, a security source said in an updated toll, adding that most of the victims were beheaded.
“The final toll from this attack is 19 dead, with a majority of the victims decapitated,” a security source said Saturday on condition of anonymity.
Security sources had previously said 10 civilians were killed in the cross-border raid on the village of Bia in Cameroon’s Far North region.
The attack comes after a regional military offensive—which includes Cameroon—has claimed a string of successes in their fight against the Islamist militants in Nigeria in recent weeks.
Bia, which borders Lake Chad, has been identified previously by security forces as a recruiting ground for Boko Haram militants.
The source speaking to AFP on Saturday said security forces were slow to react to the raid on Bia, though it is located in an area with several military bases.
“We noted a late response by our forces,” the source said.
“Many huts were burned down,” the source added.
Also during the night from Thursday to Friday, Boko Haram Islamists attacked a Cameroon army position in Amchide, on the border with Nigeria.
“They burned houses in Amchide, but without losses on our side. The attack was repulsed. We don’t know yet about casualties on the enemy side,” a security source told AFP on Friday.
The insurgency by Boko Haram—which is seeking to create a hardline Islamic state—has killed some 13,000 people in northeast Nigeria and sent 1.5 million fleeing their homes since 2009.
The group had in recent months widened its attacks into neighbouring nations, prompting Chad, Cameroon and Niger to launch a joint offensive with the Nigerian army, resulting in a series of rebel-held towns and villages being recaptured in Nigeria’s northeast.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan’s perceived inability to end the six-year insurgency was a factor in his election defeat last month.
Nigerian President-elect Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to rid the country of the “terror” of Boko Haram.
Boko Haram Attacks 2 Villages in Cameroon, Kills 12
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Islamic extremists entered the villages of Bia and Diana late Thursday, looting and burning property while shooting indiscriminately, leaving 10 men and two women dead, said Col. Jacob Kodji in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
"You know our boundary with Nigeria is very porous and some people have been traumatized," he said.
Cameroon has deployed troops to the area and a few arrests have been made, he said. Soldiers from neighboring Chad, Cameroon and Niger have helped oust Boko Haram in recent weeks from Nigerian towns held for months.
Boko Haram's nearly 6-year-old Islamic uprising in northeast Nigeria that has killed thousands — a reported 10,000 just last year — and forced more than 1.5 million from their homes.
Responding to the news, IMAN Chairman, Ribal Al-Assad said:
"I am very concerned to see that extremist violence continues to spill over from Nigeria into neighbouring Cameroon - I am also horrified to learn of this horrific recent attack.
As I had stated on many occasions, the cancer of extremism will continue to spread unless the international community puts aside their differences and unites against this global threat.
Every day more and more innocent people are loosing their lives at the hands of these animals and it is a tragedy that for the most part the international community sits by and lets this happen.
Much more needs to be done to combat this problem, we need to adopt a far more robust approach.
My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families at this time."
