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Bomb attack kills over dozen in north Cameroon mosque

Wednesday, 13 January 2016 9:32 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 13 January 2016 9:42 AM ]

This file photo shows security forces transporting with a blanket the remains of the victims of a twin bomb blast in Cameroon’s northern city of Maroua. (By AFP)

More than a dozen people have lost their lives and at least one person has sustained injuries in a bomb attack targeting a mosque in Cameroon’s volatile northern region near the border with Nigeria.

“The attack took place at 5:40 a.m. (0440 GMT) at a mosque in Kouyape. There were 13 deaths, including the man who blew himself up, and one wounded,” a senior local official, who declined to be named, said on Wednesday.

No group or individual has so far claimed responsibility for the deadly incident, but the Takfiri Boko Haram terrorist group, which is based in neighboring Nigeria, has carried out similar attacks in Cameroon.

Over 100 people have reportedly lost their lives in the far north of Cameroon in about 20 bomb blasts blamed on the Nigeria-based Takfiri terrorists since July.

On November 28, 2015, five people were killed in a twin bomb attack in the town of Dabanga. Earlier that month, four female bombers launched attacks near the town of Fotokol, in the same region, leaving five people, including a traditional leader, dead.

This file photo shows soldiers patrolling in the Cameroonian town of Fotokol, on the border with Nigeria, after clashes with Nigeria-based Boko Haram militants. (Photo by AFP)

Cameroon has joined a regional military alliance alongside Niger, Chad and Nigeria in the battle against Boko Haram.

The Boko Haram militancy began in Nigeria in 2009, when the terrorist group started an armed rebellion against the government. At least 17,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million made homeless ever since.

The terrorists have pledged allegiance to the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, which is primarily operating inside Syria and Iraq.

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