Three Cameroonian and 14 Chadian soldiers died and a huge number of Boko Haram militants were killed when the group yesterday morning attacked military camps in Fotokol, a border town in Cameroon’s Far North Region neighbouring Nigeria, military sources told Chinese news agency Xinhua.

Sources put the number of Boko Haram militants in the attack at around 7,000, adding that they were armed with 30 armoured trucks, about 10 ordinary vehicles and hundreds of motorcycles, as well as sophisticated weapons.

In their ranks, there were Libyan, Sudanese and Malian mercenaries and fighters of non-African origin, the sources added.

Pushed back to Makari, another town in Cameroon’s Far North Region, the Cameroonian army was preparing yesterday to carry out an offensive, supported by Chadian troops based in the same region, to recapture Fotokol from the terrorist group.

The attack came three days after an attempted attack by the terrorists in the same area was repulsed by Cameroonian and Chadian troops.

Dozens were killed and a mosque was destroyed as Boko Haram attacked the Cameroon town.

“They burnt houses and killed civilians as well as soldiers,” a source told Agency France-Presse. According to local residents, the throats of civilians were “slit”.

Regional security forces have reportedly repelled the attack.

The sect’s fighters went on a rampage killing nine Chadian soldiers and injuring 21 others at Fotocol.  The town on the Nigeria- Cameroon border serves as the base of the Multinational Joint Taskforce – a coalition of Chad, Nigeria and Cameroon – in its fight against the Islamist group.

However, Chad’s 2,500-strong army was successful in pushing back the Islamist Boko Haram militants.

“The insurgents have been driven out. They tried to surprise us because the Chadian troops who were in Fotokol had crossed over to Nigeria,” Cameroonian Foreign Minister Issa Tchiroma told Reuters news agency.

The onslaught occurred one day after Chadian troops killed 200 alleged militants in a major offensive to counter the terror group.

“Our valiant forces responded vigorously, a chase was immediately instituted all the way to their base at Gamboru and Ngala (in Nigeria), where they were completely wiped out,” army spokesman Colonel Azem Bermendoa announced on national television on Tuesday.

Nigerian and Chadian war planes have been bombing Boko Haram’s hideouts since Monday

African Union politicians are now meeting in Cameroon to finalise a mandate for a 7,500-strong multinational force to confront the extremists.