Cameroon through its Minister Delegate at the Presidency of the Republic, Joseph Beti Assembly has vowed to wage a ceaseless campaign to see into the end of Boko Haram incursions in localities in the Far North region that have claimed many lives both on the side of soldiers and civilians.
Minister Beti Assomo was speaking Thursday July 29 during a crisis security meeting with top military officials and local administrators in the Far region prompted by two recent deadly attacks by the Islamist sect.
The Defense boss said the recent attacks and previous ones on control posts by the terrorist organisation won’t go without retaliation with regards to their deadly natures and indicated that new strategies will be implemented to that effect.
Nothing was disclosed on the said strategies but the confident Defense boss said results will speak for him. The population on their part was urged to cooperate with security forces and the administration in the region to ensure an effective retaliation and protection.
According to figures from Human Right Watch, the Islamist armed group has stepped up attacks on civilians in towns and villages in the Far North region of Cameroon since December 2020, killing about 100 civilians. The group has also looted hundreds of homes in the region.
In the month of April, the Non-Governmental Organisation called on authorities to take concrete measures to both increase protection of vulnerable communities and ensure a rights-respecting security force response to the worsening violence.
“Boko Haram is waging a war on the people of Cameroon at a shocking human cost,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “As Cameroon’s Far North region increasingly becomes the epicenter of Boko Haram’s violence, Cameroon should urgently adopt and carry out a new, rights-respecting strategy to protect civilians at risk in the Far North.”
Human Rights Watch documented how a Boko Haram suicide bomber blew up fleeing civilians, dozens of local fishermen were killed with machetes and knives, and an elderly village chief was assassinated in front of his family. Research suggests that the actual number of casualties is much higher, given the difficulty of confirming details remotely and that attacks often go unreported.
S.K.
