Suspected Boko Haram fighters kill 23 in north Cameroon

Residents of a village in the northern tip of Cameroon say suspected Boko Haram militants killed more than 20 people including multiple children in an attack Sunday night.

Pastor Edward Ngosu, a Nigerian missionary based in Kamouna village, said Monday there were only seven Cameroonian soldiers stationed in the village when more than 80 attackers arrived. He said all the soldiers could do was shoot in the air to try to scare off the attackers, who killed 23 people.

Nigeria-based Boko Haram, which this year became the West African franchise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group, has targeted northern Cameroon repeatedly in retaliation for the country’s participation in a regional military effort against the extremists.