Cameroon extends ban on full veil in bid to stop suicide attacks

Published July 24, 2015
The full veil is already banned in the northern and western regions of Cameroon. It is now also forbidden in the east.  —AFP/File
The full veil is already banned in the northern and western regions of Cameroon. It is now also forbidden in the east. —AFP/File

YAOUNDI: Cameroon has extended a ban on full Islamic veils in parts of the country as it seeks to curb Boko Haram violence after a string of suicide bombings by female attackers.

The decision comes less than a month after two female suicide bombers wearing full veils blew themselves up on the border with Nigeria in the north, killing 11.

Know more: 'Scores' killed by Nigeria female suicide bombers

Then on Wednesday twin suicide bombings by two young girls killed 13 people in a market in Maroua in northern Cameroon.

The full veil is already banned in the northern and western regions of Cameroon. It is now also forbidden in the east.

Read: Cameroon bans full veil after suicide attacks

The governor of the East Region chaired a security meeting Thursday that included Muslim clerics where he “announced the ban of a full veil or burqa,” Cameroon Radio Television reported.

Mireille Bisseck, official spokeswoman for the western Littoral region, where the economic capital of Douala is located, told AFP that “the manufacturing, sale and wearing of the burqa” has been banned.

Bisseck said that sermons during Muslim prayers would also be subject to increased surveillance.

Northern Cameroon has been hit hard by Boko Haram attacks, and authorities fear they might spread southwards and into big cities.

Opinion

Editorial

Reserved seats
Updated 15 May, 2024

Reserved seats

The ECP's decisions and actions clearly need to be reviewed in light of the country’s laws.
Secretive state
15 May, 2024

Secretive state

THERE is a fresh push by the state to stamp out all criticism by using the alibi of protecting national interests....
Plague of rape
15 May, 2024

Plague of rape

FLAWED narratives about women — from being weak and vulnerable to provocative and culpable — have led to...
Privatisation divide
Updated 14 May, 2024

Privatisation divide

How this disagreement within the government will sit with the IMF is anybody’s guess.
AJK protests
14 May, 2024

AJK protests

SINCE last week, Azad Jammu & Kashmir has been roiled by protests, fuelled principally by a disconnect between...
Guns and guards
14 May, 2024

Guns and guards

THERE are some flawed aspects to our society that we must start to fix at the grassroots level. One of these is the...