By Anne Mireille Nzouankeu
YAOUNDE
The Cameroonian Presidency said Saturday that 27 hostages held by suspected Boko Haram militants have been released.
The presidency said in a statement that the freed hostages include ten Chinese workers and the wife of Cameroon's Vice-Prime Minister Amadou Ali.
The statement, however, gave no further details about the hostages' release.
The hostages had been captured by suspected Boko Haram militants in May and July on border with Nigeria.
Nigeria's Boko Haram militant group has been blamed for several earlier cross-border attacks in Cameroon.
Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden" in Nigeria's local Hausa language, first emerged in the early 2000s preaching against government misrule and corruption.
The group later became violent, however, following the death of its leader in 2009 while in police custody.
In the five years since, the shadowy sect has been blamed for numerous attacks on places of worship and government institutions, along with thousands of deaths.
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