YAOUNDE: Sustained Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria’s far northeast have forced thousands of people from their homes, swamping towns in the north of neighbouring Cameroon, authorities said on Sunday.

“We’ve been flooded here in Mora by Cameroonians and Nigerians fleeing Boko Haram,” a police officer in the northern town said. “The day before yesterday (Friday), there were already more than 10,000 people in Mora. Not a day goes by without more people coming.”

The number of internally displaced people in Nigeria and those who have crossed its borders into Cameroon, Niger and Chad because of the militant violence has been increasing, with no end sight to the insurgency.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2014