40 Chadian soldiers were killed in a Boko Haram attack near the border with Nigeria – Firstpost

An attack by the jihadist group Boko Haram near the border with Nigeria killed about 40 Chadian soldiers, prompting the Chadian military to launch operations to track down the attackers.

The attack took place late on Sunday evening at a garrison in the Lake Chad region, which was a flashpoint for various armed groups. Following the incident, President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno visited the site and announced a military operation to hunt down the militants responsible for the attack.

A high-ranking officer, commander of a garrison unit, said on condition of anonymity.

The attackers “managed to seize ammunition and equipment before retreating,” the officer added.

Military sources say about 20 people were injured.

“Boko Haram members took control of the garrison, seized weapons, burned vehicles equipped with heavy weapons and left,” said a local source who asked not to be named.

A surprise attack hit Chadian army positions near the border with Nigeria late on Sunday evening, military sources said.

“It’s true, we have many casualties, but the situation is under control and our forces on the ground are pursuing the enemy,” the region’s governor, General Saleh Haggar Tidjani, told AFP.

Frequent attacks

In the vast waters and marshes, countless islets in the Lake Chad region serve as hideouts for jihadist groups such as Boko Haram and its offshoot Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP), which regularly attack the country’s army and civilian population.

Boko Haram launched an insurgency in Nigeria in 2009 that left over 40,000 people dead and two million displaced; the organization has since spread to neighboring countries.

In March 2020, Chad’s army suffered its worst-ever single-day losses in the region when an airstrike on the lakeside Bohoma Peninsula killed around 100 soldiers.

The attack prompted then-President Idriss Deby Itno – the current president’s father – to launch an anti-jihadist offensive.

The current president “would like to assure the people of the area, as well as the defense and security forces, of his unwavering commitment to the defense and security of the entire country,” the presidency added in a statement on Monday.

In June, the International Office for Migration recorded more than 220,000 people displaced by attacks by armed groups in Lake Chad Province.

The leader of Chad has recently made changes in the leadership of the armed forces, which, according to sources, is related to the opposition of some officers to his position on the war in Sudan.

N’Djamena was accused of sending weapons from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces – a militia that has been fighting the Sudanese army for over a year.

Both the United Arab Emirates and Chad deny the accusations.

According to the United Nations, the conflict in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.

With agency input.