Boko Haram fighters kill five villagers in Chad: authorities

• Five villagers have been killed in western Chad, as Boko Haram militant fighters increase their deadly attacks.
• The villagers went outside the zone protected by the army.
• Boko Haram, loosely translated as Western education is banned.

N'DJAMENA: Five villagers have been killed in western Chad, as Boko Haram militant fighters increase their deadly attacks, a regional official told AFP Monday.

Two of the victims were strangled and three were shot dead, said Sadick Khatir, secretary general of the Lac area.

The bodes were found on Saturday, another local source said.

"The villagers went outside the zone protected by the army," the source said.

Boko Haram has training camps on several of the islands that dot the vast, shallow Lake Chad, which straddles the borders of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon as well as Chad.

The militant insurgency, which broke out in northeastern Nigeria a decade ago, has spilled over into neighbouring countries.

This year alone 140,000 people have been displaced by renewed Boko Haram violence and more than three million people endure food insecurity as farmers have been unable to plant crops, according to the United Nations.

In 2015, the Lake Chad countries, together with Benin, set up a combined force to fight Boko Haram with the help of local groups of armed citizens.

Boko Haram, loosely translated as "Western education is banned", wants to create a hardline Islamic state..