Another 52 people were reportedly wounded in the attacks that struck at around 4 p.m., the sources said, with one blast targeting the fish market at Baga Sola and the other two occurring at a refugee camp on the outskirts of the city.
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Military spokesman Colonel Azem Agouna Bermandoua said Boko Haram extremists from neighboring Nigeria were suspected of being involved.
Dimoya Souapebe, the sub-prefect in the city, and a hospital supply each confirmed the casualty figures. “The market is on fire right now”, said one of the security sources.
There was no official confirmation Saturday evening of the claim by the aid worker.
Lake Chad is shared between Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad. Boko Haram, which controls parts of northeastern Nigeria, started its militancy against the Nigerian government in 2009.
Earlier this year, Chad was instrumental in helping Nigeria’s army retake most of the areas Boko Haram occupied. However, the group has fought again, launching a wave of cross-border assaults and suicide bombings.
In a video Wednesday an unidentified man re-affirmed the group’s allegiance to IS and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
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According to Amnesty global, at least 17,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since 2009, when the group launched its violent uprising to try to impose militant Islamist rule. He said a second group of suicide bombers went to the refugee camp, killing at least 22 people.
