5 soldiers, 86 Boko Haram fighters killed in Cameroon clashes

At least 86 Boko Haram militants and five soldiers were killed in clashes between the Cameroon army and the Islamist fighters in the country’s far north on Monday, authorities said, according to France 24.
The “series of clashes” took place in the Waza region near the border with Nigeria, said Colonel Didier Badjeck, a spokesman for the Cameroonian defence ministry.
The Cameroonian army had recovered one armoured vehicle from Boko Haram and damaged another, he added.
The five soldiers who were killed belonged to Cameroon’s elite Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR), which is on the front line in the fight against the Nigeria-based Boko Haram group.
A Cameroonian soldier, speaking on condition of anonymity, said “an ambush by Boko Haram” led to a nearly three-hours gun battle.
More than 2,000 Cameroonian soldiers have been deployed in Cameroon’s Far North region since August.