Cameroonian troops and their allies have freed a German man who was held six months by Islamist terror group Boko Haram, Cameroonian President Paul Biya said in a statement read Wednesday on state-run broadcaster CRTV.
Boko Haram kidnapped the man in Nigeria in July, Biya said. He did not detail how, when or where the operation took place.
“A special operation of Cameroonian armed forces and security services of friendly countries” freed the man, he said.
Biya said he was thankful to all those who “directly or indirectly helped in the achievement … and particularly the German government for their precious contribution.”
He did not specify how Germany participated. The German Foreign Office did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Boko Haram, which has fought an anti-government campaign in northeastern Nigeria and parts of Cameroon, said previously that it was holding a German hostage.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said so in November, in a video message denying Nigeria’s claims that it had struck a ceasefire deal with the group. It wasn’t immediately clear if this was the hostage that was just freed.
The operation came days after about 2,000 Chadian troops arrived in Cameroon to help fight the insurgents.
Boko Haram, which means “Western education is forbidden” in the local Hausa dialect, has terrorized northern Nigeria regularly since 2009, attacking police, schools, churches and civilians, and bombing government buildings.
It has also kidnapped students, including more than 200 schoolgirls who were abducted in northeastern Nigeria in April and remain missing.
The Islamist group also has attacked neighboring Cameroon, initially by crossing the border from Nigeria to steal food or kidnap foreign nationals. More recently, the group has attacked Cameroonian military installations.
On Sunday, suspected Boko Haram militants kidnapped 80 people in Cameroon’s Far North Region, officials in the country said. By Monday, a military operation had freed 24 of the captives; three others were found dead, state-run media reported.
Boko Haram has said its aim is to impose a stricter form of Sharia law across Nigeria, which is split between a majority Muslim north and a mostly Christian south.
Biya has called for international cooperation in the fight against Boko Haram. Last week, the Russian ambassador to Cameroon, Nicolay Ratsiborinski, said his country will supply Cameroon with modern and sophisticated military weapons, including heavy artillery, armored cars and missiles.
Michael Stephen Hoza, U.S. ambassador to Cameroon, said the United States would help train Cameroon soldiers and offer equipment for the fight.
