YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — A Cameroon governor says the country's north has banned women from wearing burkas and face-covering veils after suicide bombings by females in burkas killed at least 14 people in a northern town on Sunday.

Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of Cameroon's Far North Region, said Wednesday the region has also banned Muslims from meeting in large groups without permission, as the end of Ramadan nears. He said the measures are for security reasons.

Boko Haram has been launching attacks outside Nigeria, and then retreating. Cameroon has arrested dozens accused of promoting radical ideology and collaborating with Nigeria's Boko Haram.

According to Cameroon's National Institute of Statistics, about 20 percent of Cameroon's 22 million people are Muslim.