AKIPRESS.COM - Suspected militants from Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram have kidnapped dozens of people in raids in neighbouring Cameroon, officials say.

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

Four villagers who tried to fend off the attackers were killed, a security source has told the BBC.

Boko Haram has seized control of towns and villages in north-east Nigeria, and begun threatening neighbouring nations.

Chad, which also borders Nigeria, has just sent soldiers to help Cameroon in the fight against the jihadists.

The BBC's Randy Joe Sa'ah in Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, says this is the first time Cameroonian villagers have been kidnapped by suspected militants.

Previous kidnappings in Cameroon blamed on Boko Haram have been more targeted - with high-profile people or foreigners reportedly taken for ransom, he says.