Cameroon on Thursday deployed troops to secure its border with Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad in the country’s mountainous region of Adamawa, according to officials quoted Thursday by state media CRTV.
Etienne Ludovic Mgbwa, prefect of Djerem division of the region said, the troops underwent “thorough” training in the divisional chief town of Tibati before the deployment.
“They have as mission to curb any threat from gunmen in the border and especially preserve the lives of civilians,” Mgbwa told reporters in Tibati as authorities gathered to bid farewell and good luck to the troops.
“They are 100 gendarmes. We trained them to fight gunmen who are terrorizing the region and to do so why respecting human rights,” added Jean Pierre Kagombe Kefiene, commander of the Adamawa Gendarmerie Legion.
The region is notorious for abductions, cattle theft and cross border criminality mostly caused by rebels from neighbouring CAR and Chad, according to officials.’
Highway robbers had previously operated in the rugged and sparsely-populated region, but were forced to escape after Cameroon elite force, Rapid Intervention Battalion, intervened.
In 2019, President Paul Biya deployed 130 “special forces” to the region to “restore peace and order.” Enditem
