- The Washington Times - Thursday, February 5, 2015

The Islamic group Boko Haram attacked villagers in Fotokol, Cameroon on Thursday by shooting and burning them to death.

Cameroonian officials said that 91 villagers were killed and 500 were wounded, The Associated Press reported Thursday. The town resides along Nigeria’s northern border.

“We consider Boko Haram to be a cancer, and if the international community does not focus its mind on this disease it will spread not only in Central Africa but other regions, all over the continent,” Cameroon’s Information Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary said in Yaounde, Cameroon’s capital, AP reported.

Boko Haram, which announced its own caliphate in August, said the attackers were revenge killings aimed at discouraging Cameroon and Chad from assisting Nigeria’s military efforts in the region.

Roughly 10,000 people were killed in violence connected with Boko Haram within the last year, AP reported.

• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.

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