The Cameroonian government has said its soldiers had killed "more than 100" Boko Haram fighters during an attempted incursion by the Nigeria-based Islamist insurgents into its territory.
The Cameroonian army has dealt "a severe setback" to Boko Haram, government spokesman Issa Tchiroma Bakary said yesterday in a statement read out on state radio, adding that the clashes took place in the north of the country on Saturday.
It was not immediately possible to independently verify the information.
According to the government statement, Boko Haram militants fired two shells on the town of Fotokol in Cameroon's northern tip, on the border with Nigeria, at around 1:00 pm (Local time) on Saturday.
"There were no casualties reported on the Cameroonian side after the attack," the statement said. "Our defence forces responded vigorously with mortar fire aimed at the positions held by units of the Boko Haram terrorist group that was behind the attack."
"The Cameroonian response resulted in over 100 deaths among the aggressors," it said, adding that the militants were forced closer back to the Nigerian border town of Gamboru Ngala, which Boko Haram seized over a week ago.
Gamboru Ngala is separated from Cameroon's town of Fotokol by just a bridge.
In recent days, residents from towns in Nigeria's northeast captured by Boko Haram have been fleeing across the border to Cameroon to escape atrocities by the Islamist group.
