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Soldiers
of the Chadian army guard on January 21, 2015, the border between Nigeria and
Cameroon, some 40 km from Maltam, as part of a military contingent against the
armed Islamist group Boko Haram ©Ali Kaya (AFP)
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Three
soldiers and 123 Boko Haram militants were killed when the Islamist group
attacked a Chadian army contingent in northern Cameroon, the Chadian military
said.
Twelve
soldiers were wounded in the attacks staged by the Islamists on Thursday and
Friday near the border town of Fotokol, according to a military statement read
out on national television.
AFP reports Chad
sent a convoy of troops and military vehicles into neighbouring Cameroon on
January 17 to deal with the growing threat Boko Haram poses in the region.
"The
enemy was repelled by our defensive forces," the general staff's statement
said, adding that the troops had "routed" the Islamists in the second
attack.
The
soldiers were killed by improvised explosive devices, the statement said.
A
senior Cameroonian security source said the Chadian troops were deployed to the
town, which sits opposite a Nigerian town under Boko Haram control and is also
close to the border with Chad, on Wednesday.
Boko
Haram frequently stages attacks on Fotokol from their base in the Nigerian town
of Gamboru, which is just 500 metres (yards) away.
Chad
has called on countries in the region to form a broad coalition in the fight
against the Islamist group. The country has already deployed its army along its
borders as well as sending the additional contingent to Cameroon.
Chad's
president Idriss Deby has also expressed intentions of taking back the
strategic Nigerian town of Baga from Boko Haram, situated on Lake Chad.
The
African Union called on Friday for a regional five-nation force of 7,500 troops
to defeat the "horrendous" rise of Boko Haram.
"Terrorism,
in particular the brutality of Boko Haram against our people, (is) a threat to
our collective safety, security and development. This has now spread to the region
beyond Nigeria and requires a collective, effective and decisive
response," AU commission chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said in a speech
opening the summit.
UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told African leaders that Boko Haram was "a
clear danger to national, regional and international peace and security".
The
group's uprising has become a regional crisis, with the four directly affected
countries -- Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria -- agreeing along with Benin to
boost cooperation to contain the threat and to form a Multinational Joint Task
Force.
More than 13,000 people
have been killed and more than one million made homeless by Boko Haram violence
since 2009.
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