Cameroon’s military has announced the seizure of several hundred weapons and combat uniforms that were being smuggled by suspected Boko Haram militants to a hideout of the Nigeria-based terrorist group.

The items confiscated this week in Maroua, a town near the central African country’s border with Nigeria and Chad, included long-barreled firearms, military uniforms, over 400 packets of tear gas and more than 100 gallons of oxidizing agents used to make explosives, Cameroon government officials said.

According to the regional governor, Midjiyawa Bakari, the weapons were being smuggled to the Sambisa forest, in Borno State, northeast Nigeria, which has long served as a hideout and stronghold for Boko Haram members. Bakari also said the terrorist group is re-arming and recruiting members after it was weakened by troops of the Multinational National Joint Task Force of the Lake Chad Basin (MNJTF) made up of about 11,000 military personnel from Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

Cameroonian troops have recently been deployed in the Lake Chad Basin region in a bid to capture more weapons and prevent Boko Haram from re-arming itself. The government in Yaoundé has called on civilians to help prevent Boko Haram from re-arming and recruiting new members by reporting strangers in all border towns and villages to government troops. Over 40,000 people have been killed and 3 million have fled their homes in these four regional states since 2009, when fighting between Nigerian military and Boko Haram terrorist group escalated into an armed conflict and gradually spilled over into neighboring countries.

Source: The North Africa Post