There were 50 children among some 80 people abducted by Boko Haram’s Takfiri militants in a cross-border attack on villages in northern Cameroon.

Cameroon's Information Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary confirmed that three people were also killed in the Sunday attack, which targeted several villages including Mabass along the border with Nigeria.

“According to our initial information, around 30 adults, most of them herders, and 50 young girls and boys aged between 10 and 15 years were abducted," a senior army officer said.

"They burnt to ashes almost 80 houses," he added.

The abductions came a few days after Amnesty International released satellite images of the group’s assault on two towns in northern Nigeria.

Earlier on January 15, Cameroonian President Paul Biya announced that Chad would send military forces to help his government forces fight the Boko Haram militants.

On January 12, the Cameroonian army killed 143 Boko Haram militants as they mounted an offensive on a military camp in the northern town of Kolofata, located approximately 840 kilometers (521 miles) northeast of the capital, Yaoundé.

Cameroon also launched airstrikes against Boko Haram on December 28, after nearly 1,000 militants from the group assaulted a military camp located near the northern border. The Cameroonian troops in the camp were forced to flee although the base was retaken later.

Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” aims to overthrow the government in Nigeria.