At least seven people were killed in bomb attacks in Cameroon’s far north region on Sunday.

The extremist group’s presence in Cameroon dates back to 2004, and Boko Haram now counts more than 3,000 Cameroonian combatants, the worldwide Crisis Group said in a report released earlier this month. “In the first explosion near a well, at least three persons were killed”. And four persons died in the second bomb near a church, according to the local deputy prefect.

Sustained offensive operations, pre-emptive air strikes by the Nigerian Air Force and routes blocking by ground troops, all geared towards constricting and snuffing out the Boko Haram terrorists, are strategies that have forced some terrorists to willingly surrender, the spokesman for the Nigerian Army, Colonel Sani Usman, said in a statement on Sunday.

The attack came one day after Major General Iliya Abbah, the Nigerian commander of a five-nation regional force set up to fight Boko Haram, concluded a visit to the Mora military base in northern Cameroon, where 2,500 troops are installed.

Boko Haram has stepped up its attacks in Cameroon since the West African country previous year launched a crackdown on the group, which had previously used the Extreme North region as a base for recruiting and supplying its operations in northern Nigeria. Cameroon military sources say the attacks occurred at the entrance of Kolofata market by two young boys from a village near the town of Kolofata.