Cameroonian security forces on Monday killed two young women wearing explosive vests in the northern town Kolofata, where the extremist group Boko Haram has been operating in recent months, residents and witness told reporters.
"The first kamikaze (suicide bomber) exploded near my house ... When she entered, the local vigilance committee fired an arrow at her head and she set off her bomb," resident Bahoua, who declined to give his full name, told Reuters.
The troops, who are part of the country’s special force known as BIR, were armed with guns and arrows, the residents added. The other young woman was shot by special forces before she managed to detonate her explosives.
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The town, about 10 km (6 miles) from the Nigerian border, has seen several suicide bombings over the past few weeks as Boko Haram expands beyond its main base in Nigeria to neighboring countries Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
On Dec. 11, another suicide bombing in the same town killed at least 11 people. The attack was carried out by a girl aged 13, authorities said at the time.
Reuters map of Nigeria locating fatalities as a result of Boko Haram attacks between January 2011 and January 2015.
The news comes a few days after the Cameroonian army said last week they had killed 100 Boko Haram militants and freed nearly 1,000 hostages as part of a three-day operation to raid a Boko Haram outpost in the Sambisa Forest.
Late last month, four female suicide bombers blew themselves up in the same town killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens more.
No one claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack. But, Nigeria along with Cameroon, Chad and Niger formed a 8,700-troops multinational force in July to combat the threat of Boko Haram after the militant group claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in the region.
Meanwhile, in its latest intervention, the United States deployed in October 300 troops and a fleet of surveillance drones to Cameroon to aid in the war against the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram.
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