No fewer than eight persons were killed in Cameroon on Monday in a rocket attack blamed on the Islamist group Boko Haram in neighbouring Nigeria, security officials said.

Boko Haram militants fired the rocket from the Nigerian town of Banki which hit the town of Amchide in the far north of Cameroon, a police officer said..

“The rocket landed in Amchide, killing eight civilians and injuring many more. We fear that the number of dead will rise,” said the policeman, who asked not to be named.

A Cameroonian security agent said the rocket landed in a road where many people were shopping.

Boko Haram took control of Banki several weeks ago and the militants have tried to make incursions across the border into Amchide.

The residents of Amchide have set up self-defence groups to fight off the Islamists.

In a separate attack, Boko Haram militants killed seven people on Monday in the town of Ngamdu in the remote northeast of Nigeria, residents and an official said, with reports indicating the victims were beheaded.