Cameroon: Suicide attack kills at least five in northern town of Mora

At least five people were killed in a suicide bomb attack on 20 September in the northern Cameroon town of Mora, military sources said, in what appeared to be the latest cross-border attack by Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist militant group.

The dead included a police officer, two civilians and the two female suicide bombers, who detonated themselves at around 8.00am in the Galdi neighbourhood near the entrance to the town.

"It happened not far from the town stadium when the police officer who was killed attempted to carry out a routine check," said one of the military officers, who asked not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the press.

He said authorities had dispatched teams to the scene of the bombing to gather more details and it was possible the death toll from the attack could rise. Mora lies just a few kilometres from Boko Haram's strongholds in north-eastern Nigeria.

The Islamist group has stepped up its attacks in the area since Cameroon last year launched a crackdown on the group, which had previously used the Extreme North region as a base for recruiting and supplying its operations in Nigeria. Cameroon is a major contributor to an 8,700-strong, Nigerian-led regional force expected to start operations against Boko Haram this year.