According to the Cameroun Web portal, drones were used in the attack to an army base, and that the death toll may rise. “Sagmé is located in the northern part of the country, bordering Nigeria’s Borno State—a stronghold of Boko Haram, which operates alongside the so-called Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA), a branch of the former.”

It was also reported that a Nigerian Catholic priest was kidnapped by Islamists along with other travelers, also in northeast Borno, according to church sources.

Bishop John Bogna Bakeni of Maiduguri said that Reverend Alfonso Afina was kidnapped near the northeastern town of Gwoza, on the border with Cameroon, in an action also attributed to Boko Haram.

Political observers note that a large portion of Cameroonian troops are deployed across the border with Nigeria as part of operations against Islamist groups operating near the Lake Chad region.

The Far North region of Cameroon is considered a target of numerous attacks and is highly insecure, as are the northwest and southwest regions of Cameroon, where armed rebels from the English-speaking minority are also active.

They have been fighting with security forces and have been demanding independence for these areas since 2017, in a country where the majority is French-speaking.

According to government sources, the armed conflict in the northwest and southwest regions since 2017 has already left 6,000 dead and 800,000 displaced in Cameroon.

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