A joint force from Cameroon and Nigeria managed to free hundreds of hostages held by Boko Haram. The government forces also liberated the Nigerian town of Kumshe, killing about 100 militants in the process, Gen. Jacob Kodji told The Associated Press.
"Our boys are still on the field with Nigerian soldiers and have received instructions to continue raids on all Boko Haram border villages until we defeat them," said Kodji, reports The Associated Press.
"Two Cameroonian soldiers were killed [during the operation] by an accidental mine explosion. Five other soldiers were wounded," read a statement from Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary, reports Al Jazeera.
Among the hostages freed were 10 Chinese construction workers who had been kidnapped in May from Waza, and the wife of a vice prime minister, who had been kidnapped along with 17 others from her residence in the border town of Kolofata.
Boko Haram is a staunch supporter of the Islamic State group and has been active in Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger. Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 2.8 million in West Africa, according to the United Nations and Amnesty International.
Boko Haram is the "most deadly terror group in the world," according to The Global Terrorism Index, an annual report by the New York City-based Institute for Economics and Peace,
Children have been the worst victims of Boko Haram, with many suffering sexual abuse, being forced into marriage, kidnapped or killed.
"A lot of parents in the northeast would not send their children to school because they'd be afraid of what would happen," said Hafsat Maina Muhammed, executive director of the Choice for Peace Gender and Development, an NGO in Damaturu, to Al Jazeera.
