neighbouring Cameroon, targeting new villages with increasingly
sophisticated weapons, as the army fears more violence in the
approaching dry season.
(Cameroonian soldiers patrol on November 12, 2014 in Amchide, northern
Cameroon, 1 km from Nigeria. The city was raided by Islamists from
Nigeria's Boko Haram, killing eight cameroonian soldiers and leading
the population to flee on October 15, 2014, before another six
coordinated attacks that killed at least three civilians in the remote
north of the country, on November 9, 2014. Boko Haram's five-year
insurgency in neighboring Nigeria has left thousands dead, and the
Islamists have occasionally carried out attacks over the border.
Cameroon has deployed more than 1,000 soldiers in the extreme
northeast of the country to counter the Islamist threat. AFP PHOTO)
"We're convinced that the establishment of a 'caliphate' (by Boko
Haram) is aimed not only atNigeriabut also at Cameroon," Leopold Nlate
Ebale, commander for an elite battalion in the border zone, told AFP.
Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, has said he wants to set up a
Nigerian caliphate -- recalling the actions of the Islamic State
militant group which has taken over parts of Iraq and Syria.
Until recently, Boko Haram had focused its attacks on several
Cameroonian border posts across from towns it controls in the Nigerian
state of Borno.
It has also been using Cameroon as a place to rest and stock up with
arms and food.
But its attacks are now spreading further south into the country.
Members of the group have slit the throats of market-goers in broad
daylight near the northern city of Mokolo, according to Cameroon's
army.
Meanwhile, rivers between the west African nations are evaporating as
the dry season approaches.
Dry weather "will increase Boko Haram's capacity for harm," said
colonel Jacob Kodji, a regional army chief in northern Cameroon.
"They will no longer have to cross over bridges. They will be able to
cross anywhere over the border, at any time, by any means."
- Troops trained by Israelis -
The Islamists have taken some 20 towns in Nigeria and amassed a
weapons stockpile seized from Nigerian army bases.
They now use armoured vehicles and landmines as well as kalashnikovs
and rocket launchers.
Cameroon's military is increasingly concerned as Boko Haram fighters
approach major cities like Maroua, the capital of the Far North
region, which the group is suspected of infiltrating.
Cameroon has deployed around 2,000 soldiers in the northern region and
registered 32 deaths since the start of the operation.
Despite the losses, the government says its soldiers are beating back
the Islamists.
The authorities regularly announce the killing of hundreds of
Islamists during skirmishes, though it is impossible to verify the
figures.
Cameroon has some 4,000 elite soldiers, trained by Israeli soldiers,
but observers are sceptical about the capabilities of the regular
army, particularly in the face of bigger attacks.
"Until now, the military presence has endured major skirmishes. But if
Boko Haram decided to launch a major offensive, they could break
through Cameroon's lines without too much difficulty," said a source
close to the country's intelligence services, requesting anonymity.
The army's successes up to now were partly due to the fact that the
insurgents were sending young, inexperienced recruits to Cameroon,
rather than hardened fighters from Nigeria, he said.
"The Boko Haram fighters we're dealing with are trained in three
weeks: the first week they're given money and drugs, the second week
they learn to put together and strip down a kalashnikov, and the
third, they're sent to the frontline," said a Cameroonian officer,
declining to be named.
The army, initially criticised for its inaction, also feels
increasingly isolated in its fight against the Islamist group.
Hundreds of Nigerian soldiers have fled to Cameroon on several
occasions in response to Boko Haram attacks, yet the two countries
"share information but nothing more", according to Cameroon's defence
ministry.
A regional force -- with 700 soldiers each from Chad, Cameroon, Niger
andNigeria-- is due to be deployed by the end of November, but will
mainly concentrate on the area around Lake Chad, in the far north of
both countries.
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