Over 1,000 new recruits of the Cameroon army on Tuesday concluded an anti-terror drill in the country’s South Region.

The drill enhanced their capability of handling terror attacks and also defended the territorial integrity of Cameroon, said Lt. Col. Gerald Tataw Tabi, commander of the military training center of Djoum town in the region, where the new recruits were trained for roughly two months.

“Fifty-one days of training is a whole program of transformation … We put them in the situation of the tactical field, especially today [when] we live in a period of uncertainty,” Tabi said.

The 1,226 soldiers swore to defend the flag of Cameroon during a ceremony in Djoum that brought together top military officials of the country.

Maj. Gen. Philippe Mpay, commander of military schools and training centers, encouraged the soldiers during the oath-taking ceremony to defend “the institutions of Cameroon against internal and external enemies and to do this in honor and loyalty.”

Cameroon is facing growing threats from the terror group Boko Haram in its Far North Region and a separatist conflict in its English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest.

President Paul Biya has promised not to harm the separatists and Boko Haram militants who will lay down their weapons, but warned that those who continue the armed struggle will “face the full force” of the Cameroon army.

Source: Xinhuanet