Cameroon has carried out its first air strikes against militant Islamist group Boko Haram after it over-ran a military base and attacked five villages, an army spokesman has said.
The military repelled the attacks and regained control of the base, he added.
The spokesman did not confirm local media reports that the militants had killed at least 30 people.
The Nigeria-based group is increasingly carrying out cross-border raids, threatening Cameroon’s security.
‘Training camp dismantled’
The latest fighting was the most intense, lasting for three days along several fronts, reports the BBC’s Jean-David Mihamle from Cameroon’s capital Yaounde.
About 1,000 militants attacked five villages, including Amchide, and seized the nearb
y Achigachia military base.
“After that, the head of state ordered the air force to carry out strikes. With the bombardment, the fighters were forced to decamp from Achigachia,” army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Didier Badjeck is quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.
Cameroon under pressure from Boko Haram
Last week, Cameroon said it had dismantled a Boko Haram training camp on its territory, and had seized 84 children who were being trained there.
More than 40 of its soldiers have been killed in fighting with Boko Haram this year, according to Reuters.
Boko Haram launched its insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria in 2009, saying it wanted to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state.
It recruits mainly unemployed youth and has seized large swathes of territory in Borno state, raising fears that it could launch an assault on its main city, Maiduguri.
At least 2,000 civilians have been killed by the group in Nigeria this year.
The kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram in April from the town of Chibok in Borno state sparked international outrage.
Who are Boko Haram?
Founded in 2002
Initially focused on opposing Western education – Boko Haram means “Western education is forbidden” in the Hausa language
Launched military operations in 2009 to create Islamic state
Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria – also attacked police and UN headquarters in capital, Abuja
Some three million people affected
Declared terrorist group by US in 2013
