The suicide bombings took place on Saturday in a busy public market located on the island of Koulfoua.
Advertisement
Originally, the death toll was thought to be as high as 30.
A triple suicide bombing has targeted an island in Lake Chad, killing at least 27 people.
The Chadian (Lake Chad comprising) area is strategically important, since it corners a number of West African nations including Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria.
“Boko Haram requires a simultaneous multilateral counter-insurgency operation which leaves militants with nowhere to run”, he said.
No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attacks yet, but Chadian security officials who spoke to the Associate Press said they believe the attack was carried out by women who could have been members of the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram.
In October, 41 people died when suicide bombers attacked a weekly market in October in the town of Baga Sola. While the third assault is reported from neighbouring Loulou islands, where 80 people are left critically injured.
Eight-thousand-seven-hundred Chadian Army fighters, along with Chadian military, police, and civilians have been joined by forces from Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria and are said to be engaged with Boko Haram in the area. Yesterday’s Lake Chad attacks have been speculated to be in retaliation for the coalition’s successful blow against the terror group.
He said most of the region’s displaced had arrived in April after clashes between Chad and Boko Haram in Niger and Nigeria.
Saturday’s statement follows a warning Friday from the U.S. Embassy that extremists may be planning attacks on hotels favored by Westerners. The militants are based mostly in Nigeria but have become a wider security threat for the region.
Advertisement
Boko Haram’s 6-year uprising has killed some 20,000 people.
