Boko Haram attack kills at least 26 people in Cameroon

Jihadist fighters belonging to the Boko Haram group active in Nigeria have killed at least 26 people in an attack in Cameroon, one of the bloodiest in recent months, according to a security official.

"Seventeen soldiers and nine civilians" were killed in Monday's attack in Darak, a Cameroonian island near Lake Chad, an AFP regional security official told AFP.

According to a preliminary count, on Monday, three Cameroonian soldiers were killed as well as an unspecified number of civilians during an attack on a military post in the region.

This official told AFP on Tuesday that the Boko Haram attack had triggered fierce fighting with Cameroonian troops. According to him, 40 jihadists have been captured and seven soldiers are still missing.

Before being repulsed, the jihadists managed to hoist their flag over Darak, said several sources of security.

The Boko Haram uprising, which has lasted for a decade, aimed at establishing a radical Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria, which killed more than 27,000 people and left 1.8 million homeless is spread to neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

An anti-Boko Haram force regrouping soldiers from Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria was set up but failed to remove him from the troubled region of Lake Chad.