Cameroonian soldiers on the Boko Haram frontline. Credit: L’oeil du sahel

Cameroon’s government says its soldiers have killed  162 Boko Haram,  in a weekend operation in  a Nigerian border town of Goshi.

Government also said the militants have been flushed out of the town, which is now under the control of its troops.

The announcement in Yaounde contradicts Nigeria’s official claim that no Nigerian territory is under the control of Boko Haram.

Cameroon Communications minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary said late Monday that Cameroon special forces also freed about 100 people being held by the extremists, including Cameroonians and Nigerians. He said two members of Cameroon’s military were killed.

Bakary said the operation from Feb. 11 to Feb. 14 destroyed several bomb factories and two training centers in the former Boko Haram stronghold, and soldiers seized vehicles, weapons and ammunition.

Amnesty International says Nigerian-based Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 people in its six-year insurgency.