At least 28 people were killed in multiple suicide bombings in a village in Cameroon’s Far North region on Monday, a local official said.

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While state-owned radio and local officials said four explosions had struck a bustling marketplace and two entrances to the village of Bodo, AFP reported there had been three bombings.

“The new toll is 28 dead and 65 wounded. Currently the situation is stable. Our security forces are in place,” said one official, who asked not to be named.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings, but the region has been frequently targeted by Nigeria’s Boko Haram in the past.

Twelve people were killed in an attack on January 13 at a mosque in the town of Kouyape.

Bodo, separated from Nigeria by only a small border river, was previously targeted at the end of December when two female suicide bombers blew themselves up at the town entrance.

The Islamist militant group has stepped up attacks in neighbouring countries over the past year, including in Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

The three countries, along with Benin and Nigeria, are part of an 8,700-strong regional force devoted to defeating Boko Haram, which has waged a six-year campaign to carve out its own separate state.

The establishment of the force has been plagued by delays, however, and joint operations have yet to begin, leaving it up to national armies to tackle Boko Haram individually.

In the absence of effective coordination, security sources have warned this can often mean that soldiers just drive the militants across each other’s borders.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

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