Homeland Security News

Suspected Boko Haram militants detonated two suicide bombs in north Cameroon overnight, killing at least three people, an official and security sources said on Wednesday.  Suicide bombings, often carried out by young women recruited by the Islamist militant group in neighbouring Nigeria, are becoming almost daily occurrences in Cameroon's Far North region.

"There was a double suicide attack last night in Waza in the far north of Cameroon with a toll of six dead, including the three kamikazes (attackers)," said Michel Oumarou, deputy prefect for the town of Waza.  Two security sources also confirmed the attack, with one of them pegging the death toll higher at six civilians. A third suicide bomber was killed by security forces before she was able to detonate her bomb, one of the sources added.

Cameroon is a target for attacks since it is part of an 8,700-strong regional task force aimed at defeating Boko Haram with troops from Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and Benin. Joint operations have stalled, however, and national armies appear to be fighting Boko Haram independently.

British police arrested four men in the town of Luton on Wednesday on suspicion of plotting acts of terrorism, police said in a statement. The men, all in their 30s, were taken into custody at a London police station. Searches were being conducted at seven addresses in Luton, north of London, and several vehicles were also being searched, police said.

The arrests and searches were part of an ongoing investigation of individuals in the Luton area and were not connected to the Nov. 13 Islamic State attacks in Paris, the statement said.

The government has said seven plots to attack targets in Britain, directed or inspired by Islamic State, have been thwarted by security services in the past year.