Cameroon's reconnaissance unit takes on Boko Haram
Cameroon's elite Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) is again on the offensive with Operation Thunder 2 launching on 26 February in Nigeria, targeting Boko Haram positions.
Hours before the main Cameroonian body launched its first offensive, BIR operators had infiltrated into the operational area, checking planned entry routes, enemy positions and artillery targets.
The men belong to the BIR's own special reconnaissance outfit, simply known as the Long-Range group.
As one BIR officer explained to Shephard, the unit that was initially known as Special Reconnaissance Group (GSR), before being renamed simply Long-Range group, was stood up in November 2015 as
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