N'djamena, Jan 12 (AFP) Boko Haram jihadists on Saturday killed at least four villagers and kidnapped four women in western Chad, the local governor and a security official said.

The attack occurred near Lake Chad, a vast area bordering Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon, where small islands and swamps serve as hideouts for Islamist militants to carry out raids on the three countries.

"Around one in the morning, Boko Haram fighters attacked the village of Alom, and there are four dead. When they withdraw they took four women," a senior army source in the region told AFP.

Lake Chad regional governor Nouki Charfadine confirmed four people had been killed by Boko Haram and that four women were also missing.

Alom is close to the border with Nigeria, where Boko Haram militants have been fighting a decade-long Islamist insurgency.

Last month, they killed 14 fishermen in the nearby village of Kaiga, and 13 others disappeared during the attack.

Nigeria is the cradle of Boko Haram, but the group has spread around the lake area to Cameroon and Chad, in particular a wing allied to the Islamic State (IS) group, ISWAP (Islamic State in West Africa). (AFP)

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