Boko Haram fighters kidnapped at least 60 people in a deadly attack in northern Cameroon on Sunday, police said, in the latest cross-border raid by the Nigeria-based Islamist group.

It came a day after neighbouring Chad deployed troops to combat Boko Haram in Cameroon and Nigeria, as part of a regional bid to combat the insurgents. The militants “burst into two villages in the Tourou area… They torched houses and left with around 60 people. Most of them were women and children,” a police officer told AFP.

He said the attack had “left some people dead” without giving an exact toll, adding that the Cameroon army had “launched an operation” in the wake of the assault.

It is the largest abduction ever carried out in Cameroon’s Far North region by Boko Haram and comes amid mounting fears the group is expanding its operations into neighbouring countries.

Credit: Yahoo News