12 killed, 40 wounded in Cameroon suicide bomb attack

Doula – Local authorities say two suicide bombers killed 12 people and wounded over 40 others in a small town in northern Cameroon near the Nigerian border late on Wednesday.

An army colonel responsible for evacuating the wounded, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “there were 14 deaths, including the two suicide bombers, and 42 wounded.

“The attack was perpetrated by one suicide bomber, and the other was shot dead.”

The attack was carried out by two women, who walked into a busy area in the centre of Waza, eight km from the Nigerian border, said Midjiyawa Bakari, the governor for the Far North region where the attack took place.

He said that 13 had been killed and 43 wounded.

The source said a baby was among the dead.

He said many were seriously wounded and were flown to nearby hospitals.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the region has been a frequent target of Boko Haram militants in their eight-year bid to carve out an Islamic caliphate beyond Nigeria.

On June 2, nine were killed in the town of Kolofata when two children carrying explosives blew themselves up near a camp housing people displaced by Boko Haram violence.

In eight years, Boko Haram attacks have killed more than 20,000 people in the Lake Chad region, including Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger and, according to the latest UN refugee agency figures, displaced 2.7 million.