YAOUNDE, Cameroon

At least five soldiers have been killed and three others injured in a Boko Haram attack in northern part of the country near the Nigerian border, according to military sources on Tuesday.

"The station of the elements of the 41st Motorized Infantry Battalion [BIM] based in Sagme [village in northern Cameroon] ... was attacked on Monday at 6 p.m. [1700 GMT] by Boko Haram fighters aboard pickups," Brig. Gen. Bouba Dobekreo, commander of a joint military operation in the area, said.

Another general said attackers had taken away heavy weapons and also set ablaze the Sagme military post before fleeing to neighboring Nigeria.

On Monday, the armed group had killed more than 15 people in Nigeria. The organization was also accused of kidnapping a large number of troops and villagers.

Boko Haram attacks have killed nearly 2,500 Cameroonians between 2014 and 2017, according to the country’s Defense Ministry.

The UN Refugee Agency estimates approximately 26 million people in the Lake Chad region have been affected by Boko Haram violence, and more than 2.6 million displaced.