Cameroon: 275 killed by Boko Haram since January

By Aurore Bonny

MAROUA, Cameroon (AA) - At least 275 people were killed in the renewed attacks by Boko Haram in the Far North region of Cameroon between January and November, an international rights group said on Wednesday.

In a report, Amnesty International said it conducted a two-week field research in the localities of Maroua and Mokolo in the Central African country and documented that the victims included 225 civilians.

The report also documented attacks during which non-Muslims were kidnapped.

Samira Daoud, Amnesty International's acting regional director for West and Central Africa, said people in the region are “living in terror” and feel “completely abandoned”.

"The problem is that Boko Haram are in the bush and the soldiers are in the town. It takes them too long to get here and, when they do, it’s too late,” the rights group quoted a witness as saying.

According to humanitarian aid workers, terrorist group attacks have resumed in the far north, contrary to the announcement made by Cameroonian President Paul Biya on Jan 9.

Biya had said that Boko Haram was no more than a residual threat as it had been pushed outside the country's borders.