No fewer than Twenty-three people were killed and 101 wounded in a simultaneous suicide bombings outside the police headquarters and police academy in N’Djamena the Chadian capital on Monday.
They were the first such attacks in the capital of the central African nation, which has been on the frontline of the regional fight against the Nigerian Boko Haram Islamist group.
“Boko Haram chose the wrong target. These lawless and faithless terrorists will be flushed out and neutralised wherever they are,” the government said in a statement.
It said four “terrorists” were also killed, but did not give details. Earlier, a police official had told AFP that two suicide bombers carried out the attacks, which came as police cadets were attending a training course at the academy.
Altough there was no immediate claim of responsibility the government said the situation was quickly brought under control, but the unprecedented assault on the capital prompted the creation of a “crisis cell” and vehicles with darkened windows were banned from N’Djamena while security forces were also seen taking up positions on the streets.
President Idriss Deby was expected to return home during the day from an African Union summit in Johannesburg, an official said.
In his absence, government ministers held a crisis meeting to discuss the bombings.
The former French colony is part of a four-nation coalition also including Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger that was created to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency after the group stepped up cross-border attacks.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has on several occasions threatened to attack Chad and other countries in the coalition.
