Two Italian priests and a Canadian nun seized in April by gunmen in northern Cameroon have been released and have arrived in the capital Yaoundé, flanked by heavily armed security forces.<br /><br />Looking tired, but smiling, the clerics were greeted by the ambassadors of Italy and Canada, local church authorities and an envoy sent by Pope Francis, according to state television.<br /><br />The Cameroonian presidency thanked those who had worked for their release.<br /><br />At the time of their abduction, the victims were identified by the Catholic Church as priests Giampaolo Marta and Gianantonio Allegri – missionaries from the diocese of Vicenza in Italy – and the nun as Gilberte Bussières.<br /><br />The three were taken at gunpoint from their accommodation in the district of Maroua in the early hours of April 5.<br /><br />While no group has claimed responsibility for the kidnap, suspicion has fallen on Nigerian militant faction Boko Haram, which is active in Cameroon.<br /><br />In 2013, its members seized and later released a priest and a French family of seven in Cameroon.<br /><br />Shortly after the clerics’ arrival in the capital, state radio announced the killing by Cameroon security forces of some 40 Boko Haram militants in clashes in the north. A source linked to the president confirmed the clashes, which took place west of the town of Kousseri, in the region bordering Nigeria and Chad.<br /><br />Cameroon deployed around 1,000 troops to the far north at the end of May 2014, after being criticised by Nigeria for not doing enough to fight the Islamist militants.<br /><br />Boko Haram fighters have killed thousands of people in an attempt to carve out an Islamic state in Nigeria.
