Army says it also destroyed vehicles equipped with heavy weapons as regional forces continue crackdown on extremist group

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

More than 200 Boko Haram militants have been killed by Chadian troops in the Nigerian towns of Gambaru and Ngala, according to army officials.

Soldiers also destroyed more than a dozen vehicles equipped with heavy weapons during the battle on Tuesday, as well as 100 motorbikes used by the militants, the army high command said. There was no independent confirmation of its claim.

Boko Haram fighters also attacked the town of Fotokol in Cameroon on Wednesday but were repelled, a military source said.

Chad has deployed 2,500 troops as part of a regional crackdown on the militant group, which has been fighting for five years to create an Islamist emirate in northern Nigeria. An estimated 10,000 people died in the region last year.

Cameroon’s information minister, Issa Tchiroma, said the fighting in Fotokol had lasted several hours. “The insurgents have been driven out. They tried to surprise us because the Chadian troops who were in Fotokol had crossed over to Nigeria,” he said.

The attack was the latest cross-border incursion by Boko Haram, which operates near Nigeria’s borders with Niger, Chad and Cameroon.