Eight killed, 21 injured in Cameroon suicide raid
Members of self-appointed vigilance committee hunting down and fighting Boko Haram Islamic group, standing in the village of Lding Lding, northern Cameroon. At least eight civilians were killed on Friday and more than 21 0thers injured in a suicide attack in Kolofata, northern Cameroon, a region where Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamists are highly active. PHOTO | REINNIER KAZE | AFP
What you need to know:
- At least eight civilians died on Friday and more than 21 others injured in a suicide attack in Kolofata, northern Cameroon.
- No group claimed responsibility, but Boko Haram had recently targeted that region.
- Cameroon, Chad and Niger have formed a military alliance with Nigeria and Benin to battle the extremists.
YAOUNDÉ, CAMEROON
At least eight civilians were killed on Friday and more than 21 others injured in a suicide attack in Kolofata, northern Cameroon, a region where Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamists are highly active, local officials said.
Mr Guibai Gatama, publisher of local tabloid, L’Oeil du Sahel, which focuses on the northern regions of Cameroon said the dead included the suicide bomber.
He added that one of the two suicide bombers who did not detonate her explosive is still at large.
TARGETED REGION
No group claimed responsibility, but Boko Haram had recently targeted that region.
It was the second time that Kolofata, which is regularly targeted in attacks blamed on Boko Haram, has been hit by a suicide attacker.
At least seven were killed there in a double suicide attack on September 13.
The town is located near Kerawa, another Cameroonian town which lies on the Nigerian border where up to 40 people lost their lives on September 3 in one of the deadliest attacks on Cameroonian territory.
Cameroon, Chad and Niger have formed a military alliance with Nigeria and Benin to battle the extremists, who this year declared allegiance to the IS.
The Islamists’ grip on the region has suffered as a result of offensives launched by local armies.
