Cameroonian troops have killed at least 70 residents while pursuing members of Boko Haram who were fleeing Gwoza area of Borno state.
Troops were said to have entered Kirawa-Jimni village, asked where Boko Haram insurgents were and started shooting.
one of the residents, Muhammed Abba said: “we didn’t know what was going on but the Cameroonian troops suddenly appeared and began to ask us for Boko Haram terrorists.”
Abba, who is the village and deputy commander of a local group of civilians set up to fight the extremists in Gwoza added: “before we could say a word, they started firing. That scared most of us and we began to run.”
Abba said that when people returned on Monday, they found 70 corpses littering the ground.
The Borno state spokesman for a civilian self-defense group, Abbas Gava, confirmed the reports, saying that he received calls from residents of Ashigashiya village near the border with Cameroon.
“They said the soldiers were in hot pursuit of the Boko Haram terrorists who ran into Kirawa-Jimni. The soldiers did not waste time upon arrival as they immediately opened fire on the villagers,.
Kirawa-Jimni is a border community near Cameroon, located around the area where Boko Haram insurgents once held sway. Many Gwoza residents who had fled to Maiduguri and Yola say the insurgents are still very present in the area.
Cameroonian troops also chased Boko Haram fighters into Nigerian territory on November 30, killing at least 150 people, burning huts and forcing people out of their communities.
Cameroon’s government denied the charges, saying the military is trained to respect human rights. It said it had also carried out a coordinated operation on several border villages around Lake Chad November 27 to November 29, freeing 900 people held by extremists. [myad]