By Pado Chemie
YAOUNDE
At least two people have been killed in an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants in Cameroon's Far North Region, which borders Nigeria, a local security source said Sunday.
"The attack took place at around 11pm local time on Saturday in the village of Sagme in the Fotokol commune," the source told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity.
"At least two people were killed, including Abdoulaye Moussa, the head of the village," he said.
According to the source, two houses were torched in the attack before Cameroonian security forces managed to repel the marauders, who numbered about 20.
Over the past week, the Fotokol commune has been in a state of high alert after three local leaders of an alleged Boko Haram-linked cell were arrested in the town of Kousseri.
A few days after the raid, Fotokol Mayor Mahamat Moussa reportedly went missing. Local government sources, however, told AA that he had been arrested for suspected involvement with Boko Haram.
"The mayor was arrested, along with eight others, after security forces discovered a link between him and Abakar Ali, the suspected local chief of a Boko Haram cell arrested days earlier," one source told AA.
Nigeria's Boko Haram militant group has been blamed for several earlier cross-border attacks in Cameroon.
Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden" in Nigeria's local Hausa language, first emerged in the early 2000s preaching against government misrule and corruption.
The group later became violent, however, following the death of its leader in 2009 while in police custody.
In the five years since, the shadowy sect has been blamed for numerous attacks on places of worship and government institutions, along with thousands of deaths.
www.aa.com.tr/en
