Suspected Islamist militants killed at least 15 people in an overnight attack on a village in northern Cameroon, local sources said on Thursday, in the latest violence to hit the country’s Far North region.
Armed fighters entered Madegoua village, near the town of Makary, at around 2 a.m. local time and seized several men before tying them up and killing them, according to a member of a local vigilante group.
The source, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, said 13 people were initially killed in the attack. Two others later died from their injuries at a hospital in Makary, bringing the death toll to 15.
Those confirmed dead were buried on Thursday, according to video footage seen by Reuters. The news agency said it could not immediately independently verify the footage.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault.
A security analyst told Reuters the attack was likely carried out by militants from Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP, which is active in the wider Lake Chad region.
Some residents said they believed the assault may have been linked to an earlier order by militants demanding that villagers leave the area. Madegoua lies along a route considered strategically important for access towards Makary.
Cameroon’s Far North region, which borders Nigeria and Chad, has faced years of attacks by Boko Haram, ISWAP and other armed Islamist groups operating around the Lake Chad basin.
Cameroon is also part of a regional multinational military force fighting militant groups across the area.
