Suspected Boko Haram militants carried out attacks in the northeastern Borno State in Nigeria beginning Thursday, leaving at least 17 people dead and kidnapping 30 teenagers, amid a standing ceasefire with the Nigerian military, a local official told reporters Sunday.

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The attack is the latest in the series of bloody assaults waged by members of the Islamist group, dimming hopes of forging a final resolution to the conflict that has led to the infamous abduction of 200 Nigerian girls earlier this year.

According to Alhaji Shettima Maina, a government official of Mafa district, the remains of the 17 people slain during Thursday's attack in the district had already been buried.

The 30 teenage boys and girls are still in the hands of suspected insurgents whom Chad and Nigerian officials believe are bandits or dissident members of Boko Haram, Reuters reported.

A Mafa resident confirmed the killings to reporters, adding that the militants also seized about 300 cows during the raid.

The Nigerian insurgents, who have in the last five years mounted bloody advances in the region, vowed to establish an Islamist territory in the religiously-diverse nation.

Earlier, the group mounted lethal attacks in northern parts of Cameroon and had threatened to destabilize the region following its violent insurgence in Chad, Benin, Niger and Nigeria.

These countries have formed a coalition of sorts to tackle the out-of-control militant forces.

In a separate news briefing Sunday, the spokesman for Cameroon's defense ministry claimed that their forces have killed 39 Boko Haram insurgents. They have also destroyed several armed vehicles during three different violent clashes near the country's border with Nigeria.

Boko Haram has reportedly abducted more than 500 women and girls since the terror group's rise in 2009. The insurgents, whose translated name means "Western education is forbidden," has been carrying out countless raids of schools and colleges, which for them symbolize Western culture.  

TagsBoko Haram, violent Nigerian insurgents, #BringBackOurGirls