News / North Africa

At least 27 killed in Lake Chad island bombings

Saturday, 05 December 2015 3:52 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 05 December 2015 4:55 PM ]

The photo shows people riding a boat in the village of Guite to cross a section of Lake Chad, whose waters border Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon, March 30, 2015. (AFP photo)

At least 27 people have been killed and 80 others wounded in a triple bomb attack on an island on the Chadian side of Lake Chad.

According to security sources, the attack was carried out when three assailants blew up their explosives on Saturday on the island of Koulfoua.

No group or individual has so far claimed responsibility for the bombings but the volatile region of Lake Chad sees regular attacks by Nigeria-based Boko Haram Takfiri militants.

The Chadian government declared a state of emergency in the area, which also straddles Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger.

Under the decree, the governor of the remote region was authorized to forbid the circulation of people and vehicles in order for security forces to search homes and to seize arms.

Boko Haram has recently increased its attacks and bombings on Chadian villages in the lake region that is located near the border with Nigeria.

The Chadian side of the lake saw the deadliest attack on October 10, which took 41 lives in the town of Baga Sola.

Chad has been a major military ally of Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram, whose leader has publicly threatened the Chadian president with retaliation.

The threats have prompted the administration of President Idriss Deby to introduce a series of tough anti-terror laws.

Chadian army soldiers sit in the back of a military vehicle in Malam Fatori, northern Nigeria, near the border with Niger, May 25, 2015. (AFP photo)

Back in February, the four nations of the Lake Chad Basin – Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria – launched a military campaign, together with a contingent from Benin, to confront the threat from Boko Haram militants in the region.

Chad is the leading country in the regional 8,700-strong military task force.

Boko Haram has pledged allegiance to the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, which mainly operates in Syria and Iraq. The Nigeria-based militant group has intensified its campaign of terror since President Mohammadu Buhari came to power in the African country on May 29.

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