A suicide bomber killed 12 worshippers Wednesday at a mosque in northern Cameroon, an area regularly targeted by Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamists, officials said. The blast struck the mosque in the village of Kouyape, in Kolofata district north near the Nigerian border, at around 5:30 am (0430 GMT) during morning prayers, a security source said.
"The provisional toll is 13 dead (including the suicide bomber) and one person who was seriously injured. The mosque was virtually reduced to ashes," said Midjiyawa Bakari, the governor of the region. Bakari asked locals "not to let down your guard" following "these barbaric, cowardly and nebulous acts." Since July last year Cameroon's far north has been hit by a series of attacks blamed on Boko Haram, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
"Eleven worshippers were killed at the scene. A twelfth died of their wounds in hospital," the security source said, adding that the attacker was praying alongside other worshippers when he blew himself up. The imam of the mosque figured among the victims, another security source said. The bombing came after two people were killed overnight in the same area in another attack blamed on Boko Haram, the security source said. Cameroon has beefed up its military presence along the Nigerian border as part of a regional coalition, after years of doing little to stop Boko Haram fighters using its territory as a rear base to arm and equip themselves.
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