The Cameroon army on Wednesday claimed to have killed around 100 Boko Haram fighters and freed 900 hostages in a three-day operation last week. The army’s statement, which has not been independently verified, comes in the wake of twin suicide attacks in the far north of Cameroon, in which at least six people died.

“A special clean-up operation from November 26 to 28 neutralised more than 100 jihadists”, Defence Minister Joseph Beti Assomo said in a statement broadcast on national radio, reported AFP. Boko Haram, a militant organisation, swore allegiance to the Islamic State group in March 2015. Assomo added that the military offensive had enabled troops “to release almost 900 hostages, seize large supplies of arms and ammunition as well as black-and-white Islamic State flags”. The statement did not provide details on the identities of those set free.

The minister said that the operation was a joint effort between Cameroon security forces, the Nigerian army and a new multinational force set up to fight Boko Haram.