Boko Haram kills 13 Chadian troops in Cameroon

Thirteen Chadian troops and dozens of civilians have been killed in a retaliatory attack by the Takfiri Boko Haram militants on a Cameroonian border town.

Around 800 Boko Haram militants raided the border town of Fotokol on Wednesday, killing dozens including 13 Chad soldiers there.

The counterattack by the terrorist group came a day after it suffered a huge setback by the Chadian army in Nigeria’s northern territory. At least 200 militants were killed in the Nigerian city of Gamboru.

Cameroon’s defense minister confirmed his forces had found 13 Chadian soldiers dead. Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o said six Cameroonian soldiers along with 81 civilians in the area also died in the fighting.

The most gruesome part of the attack on Fotokol may be the death of 39 people at a mosque which was set ablaze by the militants.

Fotokol is located around two miles from Gamboru, a city which Boko Haram lost to Chadian troops last week.

The African Union has agreed on plans to create a joint force comprised of 7,500 troops from five nations to battle the terrorists. The Nigerian government in Abuja has effectively failed to push back the terrorist group which controls large swathes of land in northern parts of the country.

Abuja says it lacks enough resources to battle the extremist group which has been engaged in the killing of civilians and government forces over the past six years. The group has intensified its terror activities in Nigeria over the past months with at least 4,700 people killed in 2014 alone.