Cameroon frees 27 Boko Haram hostages

Twenty-seven people includ­ing 10 Chinese workers held for months by suspect­ed Boko Haram militants have arrived in Cameroon’s capital.

The hostages were flown to Yaounde from the country’s far north­ern region after being freed early Sat­urday.
They include the wife of Camer­oon’s Vice Prime-Minister, Amadou Ali.
They were seized in two separate raids in May and July close to the Ni­gerian border. It is not clear how their release was secured.
Boko Haram is seeking to estab­lish an Islamist state in Nigeria but its fighters often cross the long and po­rous border with Cameroon.
Many Nigerian civilians in border towns have fled to Cameroon to es­cape militant attacks, which have been stepped up in recent months.
In July, Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and Niger agreed to form a 2,800-strong regional force to tackle Boko Haram militants.
Cameroon has reinforced its troops in its northern regions.