Cameroonian soldiers have killed several Boko Haram terrorists during an operation in northern Nigeria in the latest development involving a multinational regional force fighting the militants.

The terrorists were killed during a raid in Borno State’s Ndaba village last week after locals reported that Boko Haram terrorists were amassing in the hills around the village, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the border with Cameroon.

Cameroonian Colonel Jacob Kodji said on Monday that the forces from his country attacked the militants on Thursday and Friday, killing several of the terrorists and destroying some of their vehicles and ammunition.

The militants were believed to have been fleeing from Nigerian air raids on Bama, a key town in neighboring Borno, the official said.

Meanwhile, Nigerian military forces retook the town of Goniri in Nigeria’s state of Yobe, clearing the area of the terrorists.

They also declared Bama free of the terrorists, expressing hope that the entire state would soon be liberated.

The Nigerian Defense Headquarters also announced on Twitter on Monday that, “Nigerian troops have this afternoon routed terrorists from Bama... Mopping up operation is ongoing.”

Boko Haram seized Bama in September. Later in December, it published a video showing its gunmen brutally killing people there. The terror group has recently pledged allegiance to the Takfiri ISIL terrorist group.

The three Nigerian states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, located in Nigeria’s northeastern regions, have been the epicenter of six years of Boko Haram violence, which has claimed over 13,000 lives and displaced a further 1.5 million people.

In May 2013, all three states were put in a state of emergency while troops and civilian forces pushed the militants out of urban centers into remote rural areas.

Over the past weeks, Nigerian troops backed by soldiers from Chad, Niger, and Cameroon have been carrying out operations to secure and stabilize the northeast before the presidential vote in the country, which is slated for March 28.

Last week, the army announced that during the joint operations, a total of 36 towns in the three states had been recaptured from the militants.

Boko Haram means “Western education is forbidden.”