37 People Where Killed At The Blasts In Potiskum, N’Djamena

Ten people were killed in two separate blasts in Potiskum, Yobe State, while at least 27 were reportedly sent to their early graves in suicide attacks at police headquarters in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena.

A police source and a civilian vigilante assisting the military against Boko Haram said that eight vigilantes were killed when a man taken in for questioning on suspicion of theft detonated explosives he was carrying. Two were killed outside a tavern and brothel in Potiskum.
The Chad attacks, which included at least one suicide bomber, are the first of their kind in Chad, a major Western ally which has spearheaded offensives on al Qaeda-linked groups in Mali and on Boko Haram in neighbouring Nigeria.
Chad has lost dozens of soldiers fighting in northern Mali and in northern Nigeria. The first known attack by Boko Haram on Chadian soil took place in February on the shores of Lake Chad and has been followed by a handful of other isolated incidents near Chad’s border with Nigeria.

 

However, despite threats by Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau to strike at Chad in retaliation for its leading role in a regional offensive against the group, N’Djamena had escaped attacks so far.
The riverside city on Cameroon’s border is the headquarters for a regional taskforce grouping troops from Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin to fight Boko Haram.
Meanwhile, the Chadian government has blamed Boko Haram for the two attacks in the capital, N’Djamena, which killed 27 people, including four suspected fighters from the Islamist group.
Communications minister, Hassan Sylla Bakari, said that Boko Haram was making a mistake by targeting Chad, adding that “these lawless terrorists will be chased out and neutralised wherever they are.”
Bakari did not give further details but Interior minister, Abderahim Bireme Hamid, told Reuters earlier that there had been at least one suicide attack at police headquarters.
An international security source said Boko Haram suicide bombers struck in N’Djamena killing seven people in an initial attack and another 20 people when explosives planted at a police training school went off.