Ten members of the Islamist insurgency sect under the umbrella of Boko Haram have been sentenced to death on terror charges in Chad.
BBC reports that the ten suspects were convicted after a three-day trial in the capital N’Djamena, over their roles in twin attacks on the capital in June 2015, which left no fewer than 38 persons dead.
The attacks were the first by the Nigerian-based group in Chad, which hosts the headquarters of a regional force set up to fight the militants.
In July, Chad reintroduced the death penalty for acts of terror.
Opposition and civil liberties groups have criticised the new anti-terror legislation, saying it could be used to curb civil rights.
The chief prosecutor Bruno Mahouli Louapambe, stated that the men were found guilty of charges including criminal conspiracy, killings, wilful destruction with explosives, fraud, illegal possessions of arms and ammunition, and using psychotropic substances.
A judicial source told AFP that the trial had been due to last eight days, but “due to security reasons it was speeded up and moved on Thursday, August 27, 2015 to an undisclosed secret location.”
Among those convicted was Mahamat Mustapha, aka Bana Fanaye, the man described as the “mastermind” of the attack by Chad’s Interior Minister Abderahim Bireme Hamid.
The June attacks were followed by a blast at a market in the capital in July, which killed 15 people.
Chad has banned people from wearing the full-face veil following the bombings.
Boko Haram had previously threatened to attack Chad, after it sent troops to help Nigeria recapture territory from the militant group, mostly in Borno state.
Chad has been instrumental in helping Nigeria retake most of the areas Boko Haram had seized.
The jihadists, who want to create their own Islamic caliphate in Nigeria, have killed thousands and forced millions to flee their homes in the country’s north-east Nigeria since 2009.
