Boko Haram kidnaps three Cameroonian women

May 25 (UPI) -- A Cameroonian military official said Boko Haram militants kidnapped three women in the Far North Region, which borders Nigeria's conflict-wrought Borno state.

Cameroon Gen. Bouba Dobekreo said the kidnapping occurred in the town of Gakara late Wednesday.

An anonymous vigilance committee source told Anadolu Agency that the "abductees were taken to Kerawa in Nigeria by the armed men."

The kidnapping follows a similar one that occurred less than two weeks ago when Boko Haram militants kidnapped four women who went out to gather water.

Boko Haram was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department in 2013. The militant Islamic group seeks to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria and has ruthlessly targeted civilians.

In 2014, Boko Haram launched an attack targeting the twin towns of Gamboru and Ngala. About 310 residents were killed in the 12-hour attack. The towns were largely destroyed and most residents fled.

Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency on Thursday said it evacuated 270 Nigerian refugees who escaped to Cameroon following the Gamboru-Ngala attack.

The Nigerian refugees from Gamboru-Ngala sought safety in Cameroon after the attack but recently returned to Nigeria without previously notifying the Nigerian or Cameroonian governments. NEMA moved the refugees from a makeshift refugee camp to the Borno state, where they were handed over to authorities.

Gamboru-Ngala resident Malam Hussaini Hassan said they were forced out of Cameroon by security forces but she said many were happy to return to Nigeria.

"Some cried immediately after stepping on Nigerian soil because majority of us did not believe we would ever come back to our beloved country," she told Vanguard.