Cameroon puts pressure on Boko Haram

MORA , Cameroon, June 26 (UPI) -- Cameroon has intensified a crackdown on Boko Haram militants on its border with Nigeria, killing 10 suspected members and arresting 50 suspected collaborators. Col. Chioka Pierre of the Cameroon army said border villages have been searched to prevent attacks and to prevent using them as hideouts or staging areas for attacks. He added residents have cooperated with the army in rooting out Boko Haram, the violent Islamist group which admitted responsibility for the abduction of 200 Nigerian schoolgirls in April.

The latest incident occurred Wednesday in the border town of Mora, where the Cameroon military attacked what appeared to be a wedding celebration, but was either a Boko Haram disguise or their use of a civilian wedding party as a distraction before an attack.

"Look over there, a few kilometers from here, it is Nigeria. We heard people dancing and singing like in a wedding feast," said witness Bevina Paul. Shooting and explosions then began, and the Cameroon military said that, in addition to the 10 deaths, vehicles and a large quantity of weapons were confiscated.

Forty suspected Boko Haram members were detained last week in the Cameroon town of Maroua, and a market was sealed off where weapons were believed to have been hidden.