Suicide blast in northern Cameroon kills 4

MAROUA, Cameroon

At least four people, including a gendarme were killed in a suicide bombing in a small town in northern Cameroon on Wednesday, according to a military official.

"The explosion took place at around 10 a.m. local time [0900GMT] in Kolofata [town]... near the town hall," Gen. Bouba Dobekreo, commander of a joint military operation in the region, told Anadolu Agency.

The suicide attack, which the general blamed on the Boko Haram militant group, took place a few hours after another attack in Mbreche village, which is also in the Far North Region.

A woman was killed and three girls were abducted in the attack, which was also attributed to Boko Haram.

Regional Governor Midjiyawa Bakari said: "A woman was shot and three girls aged between eight and 14 were abducted during the attack."

According to local residents, the three girls were shifted to neighboring Nigeria where the Boko Haram was said to have several hideouts.

Cameroon’s Far North has been severely affected by attacks, raids and kidnappings perpetrated by the Boko Haram militant group.

The country is part of a joint task force created by the Lake Chad Basin countries -- Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Benin – that aims to eradicate the militant group that has so far killed more than 2,000 people in Cameroon, according to government officials.

Dobekreo suspects Boko Haram has set up a new explosives manufacturing plant near the Cameroon border.

Cameroon and Nigerian troops destroyed several explosives manufacturing plants in the Nigerian town of Kumshe in 2016.

Approximately 26 million people in the Lake Chad region have been affected by the Boko Haram violence and more than 2.6 million displaced, according to UN Refugee Agency.

Reporting by Peter Kum; Writing by Felix Nkambeh Tih