Suicide bombings in north Cameroon kill 20

 At least 20 people were killed in three separate attacks in Cameroon’s Far North region on Monday, local officials said.

Suicide bombers thought to be linked to Boko Haram, struck simultaneously in Bodo town at around 11.00 a.m. local time (1000GMT), Agbassi Adoum, the mayor of Makary district, said.

Col. Nomo Jean Claude, the local gendarmerie commander, placed the blame on Boko Haram, which has terrorized the region around Lake Chad in a six-year battle for a separate state in northeast Nigeria.

Cameroon has joined neighbors Nigeria, Chad and Niger in providing troops to an 8,700-strong force to combat Boko Haram.

Last week, around 20 people were killed in two Boko Haram suicide attacks on mosques in the Far North.

Since the beginning of the year, 15 suicide bombings have been carried out in Cameroon, according to Communication Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary, while more than 1,100 civilians and security force members have been killed in attacks attributed to Boko Haram attacks in the Far North since 2013.