At least seven people died when two female suicide bombers suspected of belonging to Islamist militant group Boko Haram struck a village in northern Cameroon, Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary said.

The females detonated themselves when troops tried to apprehend them in Dabanga village on Saturday evening, after local vigilantes reported suspicious behavior, Bakary said in an interview in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde. The death toll includes one soldier and the two bombers, he said.

Boko Haram, based in neighbouring Nigeria, has killed at least 380 people in northern Cameroon since it began attacking villages in the region in January 2014, according to Amnesty International. The organisation has committed war crimes and abductions and used young girls as suicide bombers, according to the London-based advocacy group.

More troops have been sent to areas near the border with Nigeria, Raymond Roksbo, a senior divisional officer in the region, said Sunday by phone.

•Photo shows suicide bomber vest already primed by terrorists.