Boko Haram 'employs child suicide bombers' in Cameroon

By Peter Kum

MAROUA, Cameroon (AA) - Boko Haram militant group is using young children on suicide bombing missions, Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of Cameroon’s Far North region, said Friday.

"Weakened by the Multinational Joint Task Force and after the destruction of its explosives factory, the group seems to have opted to use young children as suicide bombers,” Bakari told reporters.

He said the new method was experimented in Cameroon’s Far North region last week, which cost the lives of two children who were sent by the Nigerian terror group to carry out attacks.

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

The country is part of a joint task force created by 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.

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.