Three Cameroonian soldiers and 14 Chadian soldiers died and a huge number of Boko Haram militants were killed when the group on Wednesday morning attacked military camps in Fotokol, a border town in Cameroon’s Far North Region neighbouring Nigeria, military sources told Xinhua.
The Chinese news agency, Xinhua, quoting military sources put the number of Boko Haram militants in the attack at around 7,000.
This could not be immediately confirmed, but the report added that the insurgents were armed with 30 armoured trucks, about ten ordinary vehicles and hundreds of motorcycles, as well as sophisticated weapons.
In their ranks, there were Libyan, Sudanese and Malian mercenaries and fighters of non-African origin, the sources added.
Pushed at first back to Makari, another town in Cameroon’s Far North Region, the Cameroonian army quickly regrouped for a counter offensive, with support from Chadian forces.
The town was later recaptured from Boko Haram.
The attack came just three days after an attempted attack by the terrorists in the same area was repulsed by Cameroonian and Chadian troops.