Updated

A Cameroon military official says Boko Haram militants have killed at least 12 people in attacks on two Cameroonian villages on the northern border with Nigeria.

Col. Jacob Kodji told The Associated Press on Friday that the Islamic extremists entered the villages of Bia and Diana late Thursday, looting and burning property while shooting indiscriminately. He said in a telephone interview that 10 men and two women were killed.

He said Cameroon has deployed troops to the area and a few arrests have been made. Soldiers from neighboring Chad, Cameroon and Niger have helped oust Boko Haram from Nigerian towns held for months, and as attacks bled across borders.

The extremists' nearly 6-year-old uprising in northeast Nigeria has killed thousands, and forced more than 1.5 million people from their homes.