Twelve civilians in northern Cameroon died Friday in an attack by militant group Boko Haram, according to military officials.

The insurgents attacked the village of Dia in Cameroon's Far North region in the night to Friday, according to Major Nlate Eballe, operations officer of Cameroon's Operation Alpha-a special military unit.

'They came in hundreds. They torched Dia village and killed 12 people,' Eballe told dpa.

Cameroonian soldiers killed one insurgent, Eballe added.