Some 480 Nigerian
soldiers have fled into Cameroon following fierce fighting with Boko
Haram militants, Cameroon's army has said.
Army spokesman Lt Col Didier Badjek said the soldiers had been disarmed and were now being accommodated in schools.
Clashes are said to be continuing in the border town of Gamboru Ngala.
Boko
Haram on Sunday released a video in which it said it had established an
Islamic state in the towns and villages it controls in north-eastern
Nigeria.
The group's five-year insurgency has intensified in recent
months despite the deployment of thousands of extra troops to the
worst-affected areas.
Last week, a group of soldiers refused to follow orders to go and fight Boko Haram, saying the militants were better equipped.
Insurgents
also seized one of Nigeria's two main police training academies, which
is near the town of Gwoza, captured earlier this month.
The Nigerian
soldiers are currently in the Cameroonian town of Maroua, about 80km (50
miles) from the Nigerian border, Lt Col Badjek said.
Thousands of civilians are also said to have fled across the border.
In May, some 300 people were killed in an attack on Gamboru Ngala, which left much of the town in ruins.
It
is near Gwoza, the largest town under control of Boko Haram. In the
most recent census, in 2006, it had a population of more than 265,000
people.
In the 52-minute video released on Sunday, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said Gwoza was now "part of the Islamic state".
He
did not specify whether his groups now had any links to the Islamic
State (IS) group, which has seized much of northern Iraq in recent
months, prompting the US to respond with air strikes.
There is no evidence for such links but in July, Mr Shekau congratulated IS on its territorial gains.
Tuesday, 26 August 2014
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