Two suicide bomb attacks killed at least 13 people and injured 32 others
in northern Cameroon on Wednesday, the president's office said, in what
appeared to be the deepest incursion by Boko Haram militants from
neighboring Nigeria.
The first explosion hit a market and the
second a densely populated neighborhood, both in the capital of
Cameroon's Far North region, Maroua, a military source said.
No
one claimed responsibility, but Boko Haram has stepped up attacks on
the countries bordering its northeast Nigerian stronghold - Chad, Niger
as well as Cameroon.
All three have contributed troops to a
regional offensive against the terrorist group who has allied themselves
to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group and
poses one of the biggest security threats in the combustible region.
"People
were running in all directions," said Celestin, a teacher, who said he
had just arrived at the city's central market when the first bomb went
off.
Reuters' television images showed the market littered with
debris as military and health officials removed corpses from the scene
wrapped in sheets.
A statement from the office of President
Paul Biya said 13 people were killed in the attack. Cameroon state
television channel CRTV quoted the region's governor as saying that 17
people died.
The blasts came 10 days after two suicide attacks killed 13 people in Fotokol, about 300 km (200 miles) north of Maroua.
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