At least 19 people have lost their lives and dozens more sustained injuries in Cameroon’s province of Far North in a bomb attack at a populated place, officials say.
According to local military sources, the deadly blast occurred in the provincial capital Maroua, where a female terrorist detonated a bomb close to a crowded bar in the Pont Vert district on Saturday evening.
The attack came three days after two separate bomb blasts happened, leaving 11 dead and 32 more injured.
The twin attacks were carried out on Wednesday in the central market of the city, as well as the adjoining Hausa neighborhood, where two female assailants “under 15” blew their explosives.
The later double attacks were also launched in Maroua, a city which is used as the headquarters of the Cameroonian army for its operation against the terrorist group.
Other bomb explosions rocked two northern cities of Cameroon last Monday and on July 12, killing 23 and 10 people respectively.
There was no claim of responsibility for the attack but Nigerian Takfiri group Boko Haram is frequently implicated in such incidents.
Boko Haram has so far carried out several raids and abductions in northern Cameroon in reprisal for the country’s participation in the military offensive against the group.
The group, whose name means Western education is forbidden, has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly shooting attacks and bombings, particularly, in Nigeria since the beginning of its operations in 2009.
In February, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon formed a coalition and reportedly managed to drive the militants from some captured towns and villages in their offensive.
|