In Cameroon, 10 dead and 100 wounded in twin blasts

 No fewer than 10 people were killed and 100 wounded on Thursday when a bomb went off near an army camp in northern Cameroon, where soldiers are battling Boko Haram fighters.

Army and police sources said another blast hit a market. Both blasts were suspected to have been carried out by Boko Haram members.

The attacks targeted Kerawa, a town in the Far North region that was the scene of clashes between Boko Haram militants and government soldiers in February.

"For the moment there are around 10 dead and about 100 wounded in the attack near the camp.

"We're still awaiting a report from our teams on the bombing at the market," a senior army officer based in northern Cameroon said.

A police official in the town quoted the same figure while a local government official gave a provisional toll of six dead and 87 wounded.

The first bomb exploded in the morning in the market in Kerawa and the other soon after near a camp housing infantry soldiers stationed in the north to fight the insurgency group.

Another local government official said he had been told that the attacks were carried out by female bombers.

Boko Haram has stepped up attacks on Chad, Niger and Cameroon after they took part in a regional offensive against it earlier this year.

The insurgents were blamed for a series of suicide bombings in the town of Maroua, also in the Far North, that killed dozens of people in July.

Cameroon has deployed thousands of troops to its northern border where militants carry out regular raids, killing some villagers and kidnapping others.