At least 25 dead in Cameroon suicide bomb attack
Thomson Reuters
Four suicide bombers killed about 25 people in a village in Cameroon's Far North region on Monday, a local official said, the most deadly in a string of recent attacks in an area beset by violence connected to Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
Two bombers struck the Bodo central market while others hit the town's main entrance and exit points, the official said.
"There was a quadruple suicide bombing in the village of Bodo this morning. There are around 25 deaths and several wounded," he said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Cameroonian troops form part of an 8,700-strong regional force created to defeat Boko Haram, which has waged a six-year campaign to carve out a separate state in northeastern Nigeria.
Boko Haram has stepped up attacks outside Nigeria over the past year, including in Cameroon, Chad and Niger, threatening regional security.
Monday's bombing was not the first time the town of Bodo has been targeted. At the end of December, two female suicide bombers blew themselves up at the town's entrance.
Officials said at the time that the bombers were trying to access the market but were stopped by local residents. No others were injured in that bombing.
On Jan. 13, a suicide bomber killed 12 people and wounded at least one other in an attack on a mosque in Kouyape in northern Cameroon.
Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria have all contributed troops to a regional offensive devoted to driving back Boko Haram, and the United States has contributed military supplies and troops for assistance.
(Reporting by Josiane Kouagheu; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Edward McAllister and Mark Heinrich)