Boko Haram terrorists cut off the ears of at least three Christian women after snatching them from their homes during a night-time raid on a mainly Christian town in the far north of Cameroon on 29 July.
The Islamist extremists broke into homes, grabbed the women and dragged them to the outskirts of Gagalari town in the district of Yagoua where they sliced off one ear from each victim, according to local sources and later confirmed by a Barnabas contact.
They then reportedly released the women after threatening to return to the town, near the border with Chad, in the future.
The injured women were taken to a clinic about 160 miles away where they received medical treatment.
Boko Haram, which operates in the region surrounding Lake Chad, has been stepping up its attacks on villages in the mainly Christian far north of Cameroon. Sometimes Christian villages are repeatedly targeted . In the village of Grossi, where there have been at least two attacks this year, a woman and a 16-year-old boy were murdered by raiding Boko Haram militants in June.
Boko Haram is well-known for targeting women and children. Notoriously, the terrorist group snatched 276 mainly Christian schoolgirls from Chibok in north-east Nigeria in April 2014. In 2018, when about 100 girls were still held captive, a Boko Haram commander said they would not be returning home .
From Barnabas Fund contacts and other sources
