General, 3 Other Senior Officials Killed In Cameroon Helicopter Crash

General Jacob Kodji, who was coordinating the fight against Nigerian Boko Haram Islamists, was among four Cameroonian soldiers that were killed in a helicopter crash, sources told AFP.

General Kodji died in the crash on Sunday evening near Bogo, a Cameroon village, while on an inspection mission, a top military official said.

Confirming this, a senior military official, who is also involved in the fight against Boko Haram, told AFP that “We lost four men, including the general (Jacob Kodji).”

The colonel, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, added that the men were killed when the Cameroonian military helicopter they were travelling in crashed in Bogo region in the far north.

He however did not give further details of the cause of the accident.

“They were on a mission in Waza Park as part of an operation to battle Boko Haram,” he said.

Also confirming the incident, a local government official said General Jacob Kodji was the leader of Emergence 4, the name given to one of the operations launched by Cameroon against Boko Haram.

As the fight against the Nigerian jihadists raged, Kodji was prompted in August 2015 to general by President Paul Biya.

He is the first Cameroonian general to die in the battle against Boko Haram.