Suspected Boko Haram attackers killed at least 19 people and wounded 130 others after a series of suicide bombings on an island in Lake Chad.
Security officials earlier said at least 27 people were killed and 80 wounded in the attacks carried out by four women on Saturday on the island of Koulfoua on the Chadian side of Lake Chad on a busy market day.
"The provisional death toll is 19 dead, including the four kamikazes and 130 injured," state TV reported.
Two of the blasts rang out from the centre of the market and a third in the street as people fled, security sources said.
No one claimed responsibility for the attacks, but officials pointed fingers at the armed group Boko Haram from neighbouring Nigeria.
General Banyaman Cossingar, Chad gendarmerie director general, confirmed the attack saying Boko Haram is suspected, the AP news agency reported.
Chad's government instituted a state of emergency in the Lake Chad region last month, saying the area had become a gathering point for Boko Haram fighters.
More than 5,000 soldiers have been deployed on islands and lakeside villages there.
Earlier this year, thousands of people fleeing Boko Haram sought refuge on the island although it was not immediately clear if they were still based there.
Boko Haram, which has led a six-year armed campaign in Nigeria, has stepped up attacks this year in Chad, Niger, and Cameroon after those countries agreed to fight the group. An estimated 20,000 people have been killed.
Courtesy Aljazeera
