Triple attack on Lake Chad island kills 27

The Lake Chad region, which straddles the borders of Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria, has been regularly targeted by the fighters. Nigeria’s secret police yesterday said they had arrested a dozen suspects linked to the discovery of “sleeper cells” operated by Boko Haram Islamists in and around the capital Abuja. In response to these losses, Boko Haram has stepped up its attacks in Nigeria’s ally countries.

He said the explosions had killed 30 people including the three attackers, and injured more than 80 others.

The Chadian (Lake Chad comprising) area is strategically important, since it corners a number of West African nations including Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria.

Earlier this year, thousands of people fleeing Islamist militant group Boko Haram sought refuge on the island although it was not immediately clear if they were still based there.

In October, 41 people died when suicide bombers attacked a weekly market in October in the town of Baga Sola.

He said most of the region’s displaced had arrived in April after clashes between Chad and Boko Haram in Niger and Nigeria. Then, in November, two female suicide bombers killed three in Ngouboua, according to the CBC.

Cameroon said it conducted a major operation along its long western border with Nigeria, killing 100 militants and freeing 900 people.

One of the nine men arrested was carrying out surveillance of a “high-profile hotel”, said Nigeria’s Department of State Security.

In a brief message for US citizens, the embassy said it had no further information regarding the timing or method of any planned attacks. Chad’s government has already imposed a state of emergency in the area. Boko Haram is thought to have killed 6,644 a year ago, while Daesh is estimated to have been responsible for the deaths of 6,073.