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          Cameroon Military Hospital Overwhelmed With Wounded Soldiers

   by Moki Edwin Kindzeka

   The military hospital in Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, is overwhelmed
   with wounded Cameroon and Chadian troops of the regional force
   currently working to rout Boko Haram from its strongholds in Nigeria
   and border areas. The hospital has a capacity of 200 beds, but about
   two times the number are seeking medical attention there.

   Martin Chengwa says he collapsed after six members of his 10-person
   unit were killed during raids on the town of Achgachia that straddles
   the border with Nigeria. The 26-year-old Cameroonian soldier was rushed
   to the military hospital in Yaounde.

   "I have a problem of just confusion because I saw some of my friends
   that were dead but now I am okay. I am still hoping to go back. I have
   been here since December," he said.

   Wounded Chadian and Cameroonian soldiers
   He comes here for check-ups two times a week. This hospital takes in
   Chadian and Cameroonian soldiers wounded in the regional fight against
   Boko Haram. The Nigerian militant group began carrying out attacks in
   Cameroon, Niger and Chad last year.

   Chadian soldier Nagash Salim is here recovering from a fractured arm
   and an amputated leg.

   He says he remembers he got shot near his chest in a Boko Haram ambush
   in Limani on Cameroon's border with Nigeria. He says he is surprised he
   is still alive.

   ''

   The hospital has less than 200 beds, but more than 400 military
   personnel and civilians are being treated here.

   Government to cover bills
   Cameroonian soldier Derick Langmie says when they complained the
   hospital is overwhelmed, the defense minister visited to encourage them
   and promised that the government would settle all of their hospital
   bills.

   "He talked much that we should have courage," he said. "My accident
   occurred in a place called Walash after we attacked. Two days after the
   attacked, my illness occurred. My treatment began from Mora [and]
   Maroua, and today I am in Yaounde."

   Cameroon's defense minister, Joseph Beti Assomo, says soldiers whose
   conditions are deemed non-life-threatening have been asked to go home,
   returning for appointments with specialists as needed.

   He says the wounded troops are proud of the work they have done and
   have high morale. He says they are even asking to go back to the front
   after their treatment. He says he has given firm instructions to
   hospital staff to take special care of the soldiers.

   ''

   The regional four-nation force counts nearly 10,000 men. Their efforts
   have chased Boko Haram out of many towns of villages, but continued use
   of landmines and suicide bombings by insurgents have kept casualties
   high.

   A top Cameroonian military commander says a new operation launched this
   week and code-named "Tentacle" aims to flush Boko Haram out of one the
   group's key remaining strongholds, the Sambisa forest. The general,
   Jacob Kodji, said the operation involves thousands of Cameroonian and
   Nigerian troops working on both sides of the border.

   ''

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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/cameroon-military-hospital-overwhelme
   d-with-wounded-soldier/3264378.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/cameroon-military-hospital-overwhelmed-with-wounded-soldier/3264378.html