At Least 5 Killed in Cameroon Suicide Bombing

Mora,Cameroon

 VOA News-Those killed in Mora include a police officer, two civilians and the two young female suicide bombers, who detonated their explosives about 8 a.m. (0700 GMT) in the Galdi neighborhood near the entrance to the town.

 "It happened not far from the town stadium when the police officer who was killed attempted to carry out a routine check," a military officer, who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the press, told Reuters.

 

He said it was possible the death toll from the attack could rise.

Mora lies just a few kilometers from Boko Haram's strongholds in northeastern Nigeria.

Previous attacks

It marked the third time since the start of September that the area had been hit by double suicide blasts -- seven people were killed in a strike in Kolofata on September 13 and as many as 40 people are thought to have died in a bombing on September 3 in Kerawa.

Five other villages in northern Cameroon were attacked last week and the assailants looted and burned homes.

Since July, about 100 people have died in suicide attacks in the extreme north of Cameroon, which is a major contributor to an 8,700-strong, Nigerian-led regional force expected to start operations against Boko Haram this year.

Boko Haram has stepped up its attacks against Chad and Cameroon, which last year launched a crackdown on the group. The Islamist group had previously used the Extreme North region as a base for recruiting and supplying its operations in Nigeria.

Some material for this report came from AP, AFP and Reuters.