UN: Thousands flee Islamic attack in north Nigeria

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) - Thousands of refugees are fleeing northeast Nigeria into Cameroon, the U.N. refugee agency reported Wednesday, as extremists pursue a new strategy to hold land they are calling an "Islamic caliphate."

Hundreds of Cameroonians also are abandoning their homes since Nigerian Islamic extremists last week began attacking villages in the neighboring country, UNHCR spokeswoman Helene Caux told The Associated Press.

In one instance Boko Haram fighters slit the throats of three people found in a Catholic Church in the Cameroonian village of Assighassia, she said. That also is a new tactic for Boko Haram, which previously had only kidnapped Cameroon citizens for ransom.

More than 10,000 Nigerians have crossed into Cameroon and Niger since last week, said Caux. Another 1,700 Cameroonians have fled their homes near the border to move further inland, she said. Cameroon is hosting about 39,000 Nigerian refugees and Niger some 50,000, in addition to an estimated 645,000 Nigerians displaced within the country by the Islamic insurgency, according to UNHCR figures.

The most recent influx of Nigerians to Cameroon comes from Bama, the second largest city in Nigeria's northeast Borno state.