Cameroon troops free German kidnapped by Boko Haram

Cameroonian forces freed a German citizen who was kidnapped by the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram about six months ago, President Paul Biya said.

Robert Eberhard Nitsch was freed overnight in a special operation by the Cameroonian army and "security services of friendly countries," according to a statement read on national television.

"I didn't know I was going to survive," a frail-looking Nitsch told journalists on arrival at the Yaounde airport.

"There was total darkness where I was kept," he said. "There was nobody around. Nobody was telling me anything, and under such conditions, you couldn't be sure to survive."

The president did not give details on the operation or on the circumstances in which the German was abducted in July.

German Ambassador to Cameroon Klaus-Ludwig Keferstein thanked Cameroon for working on Nitsch's release.

He said Nitsch would undergo medical tests before being flown back to Germany.

Boko Haram often crosses the border from Nigeria into Cameroon to stage attacks. Those kidnapped have included some foreigners, including 10 Chinese mineworkers who were freed by the army in October.

Chad last week sent about 2,500 troops to help Cameroon fight Boko Haram, which killed thousands of people in northern Nigeria last year.