Boko Haram abducts 80 people in Cameroon

Officials said that at least 80 people have been abducted and three others killed in a cross-border raid in Cameroon by Nigerian armed group Boko Haram.

Cameroon's Information Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary said that the attack occurred in a northern region of Cameroon, with some of the hostages being confirmed as children.

"We are dealing with barbaric people, lawless people. Nothing can prevent them from assassinating" said Bakary.

Neighbouring country Chad deployed troops to combat the group in Cameroon and Nigeria just a day before this raid took place, amid concerns that the group is expanding operation to neighbouring countries.

 Chadian troops are attempting to recapture the strategic town of Baga which fell into the clutches of Boko Haram earlier this month, in what is believed to be their deadliest attack yet. Amnesty International says as many as 2,000 civilians may have been massacred, however, Nigeria's army objected to the "sensational" claims and said that the death toll in Baga was about 150.

Boko Haram, which seeks to establish an Islamic state in the north of Nigeria, has already claimed the lives of at least 13,000 since 2009, through brutal raids, attacks and suicide bombings. A further 1.5 million people have been driven out of their homes.

On Sunday, a suicide bomber in Nigeria killed five people and injured 35 others in the town of Potiskum.