Six Cameroonian soldiers were killed Friday in an attack by Boko Haram jihadists in the far north of the country, authorities said on Sunday.
Nine other soldiers were injured in the attack carried out on a military post at Soueram near Fotokol in the Lake Chad region by armed men, an army officer and two high-ranking officials in the local administration told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Five soldiers died during the attack and a sixth succumbed to his injuries on Sunday, one of the officials told journalists. The toll was confirmed by the other official, as well as an army officer, who also said the killers were members of Boko Haram.
Soueram is very close to the border with Nigeria in the restive Lake Chad region. On June 10, 17 Cameroonian soldiers were killed in an attack in the same region. The jihadist uprising which started in 2009 has killed more than 27,000 people, displaced some two million, and spilled over into neighbouring countries, sparking a dire humanitarian crisis.