5 killed by female suicide bombers in north Cameroon

Yaounde, Nov 29: Five people have been killed in a double suicide attack by two women in the restive far north of Cameroon, the governor of the region said.

"Two women blew themselves up at around 6:00 PM" (2230 IST) in the town of Dabanga, the governor of the far northern region, Midjiyawa Bakary, said yesterday.

"The initial death toll is seven dead, including the two suicide bombers." Two soldiers who had been stationed to fight the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram were also seriously wounded, he added.

The first bomber let off her explosives inside a house while a second blew herself up near a welding shop, said Midjiyawa.

This is the first time suicide bombers have attacked Dabanga, a small town on the road to the Kousseri border post, that is separated by only a stream from Nigeria.

The region has been regularly targeted by Boko Haram, a radical Sunni jihadist group which wants to create a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria.

One week ago, four female suicide bombers blew themselves by near Fotokol, in the same region, killing five people including a traditional leader.

In total, more than 100 people have been killed in the far north of Cameroon in 20 suicide attacks blamed on the Nigerian jihadists since July.

Boko Haram's six-year insurgency has left at least 17,000 people dead and made more than 2.6 million homeless.

AFP