Suspected Boko Haram Militants Kill Eight, Kidnap 100 In Cameroon

YAOUNDE (Reuters) - At least eight people were killed and about 100 others were kidnapped by suspected Boko Haram militants in an overnight raid on a village near Cameroon's northern border, a local government and a military source said.

Tchakarmari, the village targeted early on Tuesday, lies north of Maroua, where dozens of people were killed in a series of suicide bombings by the Nigerian Islamist group last month.

"Residents said the attackers headed back to Nigeria where Cameroon is not allowed to pursue them," the local government source in the Far North region said.

A senior military officer deployed as part of a Cameroonian military operation aimed at curbing the spillover of violence from Boko Haram's stronghold in northeastern Nigeria said the attackers had crossed over from Nigeria shortly after midnight.

After the spate of suicide bombings in July, Cameroon's government announced plans to send an additional 2,000 troops to boost security in the Far North region.
The regional governor has banned burqas since the attacks, which were carried out by veiled female bombers. And over the weekend, authorities rounded up and expelled about 2,800 Nigerians living in Cameroon without the required documents.

Cameroon has already deployed some 7,000 troops as part of a regional force which includes Chad, Niger and Nigeria to try to stop Boko Haram's six-year insurgency.