Authorities in Logone-et-Chari, the most Boko Haram-torn department in the Far North, fear that a wave of suicide attacks will soon occur in the region. "We have been alerted that suicide bombers from Nigeria have infiltrated some villages in neighboring localities and are reportedly planning to attack," Prefect Fombele Mathias Tayem wrote in a March 23 letter sent to his divisional collaborators.

The department of Logone-et-Chari shares a border of about 400 km with Nigeria, through which members of Boko Haram enter Cameroonian territory. They attack villages and army posts. Just over a week ago, sources in the Mayo-Sava department reported that at least seven suicide bombers had infiltrated villages. On March 21 they perpetrated an improvised explosive device (IED) attack on a Rapid Intervention Battalion vehicle and injured four people, we learned.

Prefect Fombele Mathias Tayem calls on his collaborators to "strengthen awareness sessions and remind the population to remain vigilant, reactivate the vigilance committees and multiply security meetings, intensify patrols and forecast intelligence for a better supervision of the population."

L.A.