10 Boko Haram suspects on trial in Chad over attacks
Ten suspected Boko Haram members went on trial in Chad on
Wednesday over their alleged roles in twin attacks that killed 38 people in the
capital N'Djamena in June.
It was the first Chadian trial involving the Nigeria-based
Islamist group, which has in the past months stepped up attacks and suicide
bombings in Nigeria and the neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger,
reports AFP.
They are accused of criminal conspiracy, killings, wilful
destruction with explosives, fraud, illegal possessions of arms and ammunition,
as well as using psychotropic substances, city prosecutor general Bruno Mahouli
said.
The closed-door hearing is expected to last eight days.
The accused include Nigerian national Mahamat Mustapha, also
known as Bana Fanaye, who according to Chadian authorities was the mastermind
behind the June 15 suicide attacks that struck a school and a police building
in N'Djamena, killing 38 people and injuring over 100.
Shortly after Fanaye's arrest in late June, Chad's top
prosecutor Alghassim Kassim said the suspect was the "ringleader of a
network smuggling weapons and munitions between Nigeria, Cameroon and
Chad".
Fanaye was also responsible for procuring weapons and
"recruiting and managing Boko Haram members", Kassim added.
The June attacks in the Chadian capital were followed by
another suicide blast at a market in July that killed 15 people.
Chad -- which is part of a regional fightback against Boko
Haram -- has beefed up security in response to the bloodshed. The 8,700-strong
force is not yet up and running.
Meanwhile, two suspected Boko Haram members blew themselves
up on Lake Chad while being pursued by the Chadian army, a military source said
on Wednesday.
There were no other casualties in Tuesday's incident on the
island of Kaiga-Ngouboua on the lake which is ringed by Nigeria, Niger,
Cameroon and Chad.
In Nigeria, a Lagos court late last year convicted in secret
three suspects on charges linked to Boko Haram and sentenced them to 25 years
in jail.
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