ICC Note: Three separate suicide attacks were reported in the Chadian town of Baga Sola where 50 people are being treated at a local hospital. One bomb was set off in a local fish market while the remaining two hit a refugee camp of displaced Nigerians fleeing the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. According to reports, 37 people are dead, likely including the suicide bombers. Recently, Boko Haram has intensified their suicide attacks as a new regional force of 8,700 strong set to defeat the terrorists is headquartered in Chad. Chad’s border with Nigeria is Borno State, which serves as the base of operations for the insurgency. Boko Haram continues to target Christian communities through rape, murder, and kidnapping.
10/12/2015 Baga Sola, Chad (BBC) – Suicide bombers have attacked a fish market and refugee camp in the town of Baga Sola in western Chad, killing more than 30 people, officials say.
More than 50 people are being treated at the hospital in the town, which is on the shores of Lake Chad.
The camp on the town’s outskirts is home to tens of thousands of Nigerians who have fled Boko Haram attacks.
Chad is host to a new regional force set up to tackle the Nigeria-based militant Islamists.
Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria agreed to establish the 8,700-strong force, but it has yet to start operations in earnest because of reported funding difficulties.
At least 37 people died in the Baga Sola explosions on Saturday afternoon.
This figure may include the suicide attackers, which some reports put at five.
Witnesses reported hearing three blasts, one at the busy fish market and two at the refugee camp.
Officials suspect Boko Haram to be behind the attacks – the group first attacked Chad in June using suicide bombers to target the capital, N’Djamena.
Since then Chad has banned people from wearing the full-face veil, fearing attackers use the garment to cover explosives, and reintroduced the death penalty for acts of terrorism.
Borno state, which has been at the heart of Boko Haram’s six-year insurgency, is on the Nigerian border with Chad.
