Boko Haram fighters killed three villagers and abducted five children in the far north of Cameroon, where jihadist groups are increasingly active, local officials said Saturday.
The attack took place overnight Thursday to Friday in the village of Oudal, six kilometers (four miles) from the country’s border with Nigeria, where the jihadist group is based, local mayor Boukar Medjeweh told AFP.
The victims were all men and the abducted children were between the ages of three and 15, Medjeweh said.
Mahamat Chetima Abba, the traditional chief of the nearby Mozogo commune, confirmed the attack and also attributed it to Boko Haram.
Attacks in this border region by members of Boko Haram and a dissident branch, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), have become increasingly frequent in recent months, as they have along Nigeria’s borders with Chad and Niger.
Civilians, particularly women and children, are frequently abducted.
The Boko Haram insurgency originated in 2009 in northeastern Nigeria before spreading to neighboring countries.
Since then, more than 36,000 people have been killed, mostly in Nigeria, and 3 million have been forced to flee their homes, according to the UN.
