Suspected militants from Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram have kidnapped at least 60 people in neighbouring Cameroon, officials say.

They said many of those kidnapped in the cross border attack against villages were children.

Several people were killed, security officials said.

Boko Haram has seized control of several towns and villages in North-East Nigeria, and has begun threatening some of the country’s neighbours.

The group has been fighting a six-year insurgency to create an Islamic state.

In Sunday’s attack, suspected militants “burst into two villages in the Tourou area,” in Cameroon’s Far North region, a police officer told the AFP news agency.

“They torched houses and left with around 60 people. Most of these people were women and children.”

Officials told Reuters that as many as 80 people had been kidnapped. Those abducted included about 30 adults and 50 young children, an army officer deployed to northern Cameroon told the agency.

Cameroon has criticised Nigeria for failing to do more to confront Boko Haram.

The militants have kidnapped many people in north-eastern Nigeria, including more than 200 girls from a school in Chibok last April.

Those abductions caused worldwide outrage and sparked a social media campaign organised under the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.

Today’s abductions appear to be further evidence that Boko Haram is conducting a regional campaign of violence.

Last year, 27 people seized in Cameroon by suspected Boko Haram fighters were held for months before being freed in October. They included 10 Chinese workers and the wife of Cameroon’s Vice-Prime Minister Amadou Ali.

It is not clear how their release was secured.

Earlier this month Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, released a video threatening Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, who has been vocal in his criticism of the group.

On Friday, Ghana’s President John Mahama said African leaders would discuss plans this week to “deal permanently” with Boko Haram militants, and that a multinational force may be considered.

•Adapted from a BBC report. Photo shows some of the Nigerian girls kidnapped last April by Boko Haram.

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