15th June, 2015
N’DJAMENA, June 15 (Reuters) – At least one suicide bomber attacked police and intelligence offices in Chad’s capital N’Djamena on Monday, the interior minister told Reuters, the first attack of its kind on the city.
One witness at the police station told Reuters by telephone that he had seen three bodies.
Interior Minister Abderahim Bireme Hamid said security forces had locked down the area but the situation was ongoing. He said it was too early to give any toll from the incident.
“I can confirm that it was a suicide attack,” he told Reuters.
Oil-producing Chad has become a key ally in the fight against the Islamist threat across West Africa, playing a central role in offensives on al Qaeda-linked groups in Mali and Boko Haram militants in neighbouring Nigeria.
Chad has lost dozens of soldiers fighting in northern Mali and in northern Nigeria and there have been a number of attacks near Chad’s border with Nigeria.
However, N’Djamena has so far not yet been attacked. The riverside city, which lies on the border with Cameroon, is the headquarters for a regional taskforce being launched to fight Boko Haram, supposed to group troops from Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin.