B’Haram captures another Borno town, Cameroon kills 143 terrorists

Askira in Borno State, some fleeing residents of the
town told journalists in Maiduguri on Tuesday.
According to one of the residents of the town, Yusuf
Mohammed, who fled to Maiduguri, the insurgents
attacked the town in a convoy of Toyota Hilux vehicles
and motorcycles at about 3.35 pm on Monday.
He said the terrorists, who were armed with
Improvised Explosive Devices and petrol-bombs,
torched several public buildings, including a
secondary school, the Divisional Police Station and
telecom masts.
Mohammed, who arrived Maiduguri on Tuesday
morning in a pickup van with some other passengers,
said, "As we were about to depart the motor park
yesterday (Monday) afternoon, we saw some
insurgents chanting Allahu Akbar (God is great) in
Arabic.
"They burnt down a school in the town. They did not
stop there they proceeded to the police station and a
health centre and threw IEDs at the buildings."
The residents of the town who, he said, were shocked,
fled into the bush and nearby communities.
Inuwa said their vehicles were mounted with Rapid
Propelled Grenades and they shot sporadically and
chanted Allahu Akbar (God is great, in Arabic).
He narrated that he had to flee along with six
passengers in the taxi to Maiduguri through Mbalala-
Chibok Road.
On casualties, he said, "I cannot give you the number
of casualities but we saw some bodies on the road,
while we were fleeing towards Mbalala."
Askira is a predominantly farming community
bordering Adamawa State, and 252 kilometres south
of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, the birthplace of
the Boko Haram insurgency.
A police source told our correspondent that there was
a report of insurgents' attacks on one of the towns in
Southern Borno Senatorial District.
He said, "I cannot give you the casualty figure, but
some public buildings were
burnt, including our station in Askira town, 60
kilometres west of Uba near Mubi town in Adamawa
State."
Meanwhile, about 143 Boko Haram fighters were
reportedly killed in an attack on a military camp in
Cameroon on Monday.
The Cameroonian Minister of Communications, Issa
Bakary, who said this in a statement on Monday,
added that it was the heaviest loss sustained by the
Boko Haram sect in the country.
He said, "The terrorists lost 143 members and
important warfare equipment made up of assault
rifles of various brands, heavy weapons and bullets of
all calibres.
"On the Cameroon side, we lost one life, Corporal-Chef
Bela Onana, while four other soldiers were wounded."
It was not immediately possible to independently
verify the toll from the fighting near the northern
town of Kolofata.