18/10/2014 14:50
Cameroon says 8 troops, 107 Boko Haram militants killed in fighting
Eight Cameroon soldiers and 107 Boko Haram militants have been killed in fighting in the far north of Cameroon, the defence ministry said in a statement read on state radio on Friday, according to Reuters.
Boko Haram has stepped up cross-border attacks into Cameroon this year as part of its campaign for a de facto Islamist state in northeastern Nigeria.
Earlier, Nigeria's military said it agreed a ceasefire with Islamist militants Boko Haram - and that the schoolgirls the group has abducted will be released, the BBC reported. Nigeria's chief of defence staff, Alex Badeh, announced the truce.
Boko Haram sparked global outrage six months ago by abducting more than 200 schoolgirls. The girls were seized in the north-eastern town of Chibok in Borno state, and their continued captivity has led to criticism of the Nigerian government's efforts to secure their release.