At least 40 soldiers died in an attack on a military base, says the president of Chad

Chad’s president said that at least 40 soldiers were killed by unidentified attackers during a Sunday night attack on a military base in the west of the country.

President Mahamat Deby Itno visited the base early Monday morning and announced the launch of a military operation to track down the attackers.

Chad has long been fighting an insurgency in the west of the country, near the border with Nigeria. In June, nine people were killed and more than 40 injured when a fire sparked an explosion at a military ammunition depot in the capital, N’Djamena.

In March, an attack blamed by the government on Boko Haram killed seven soldiers, reviving fears of violence in the Lake Chad region after a period of peace following a successful operation launched in 2020 by Chad’s army to destroy the extremist group’s bases there. Schools, mosques and churches reopened, and humanitarian organizations returned.

Boko Haram, which began an insurgency against Western education more than a decade ago, is seeking to establish Islamic law in northeastern Nigeria. The insurgency spread to West Africa’s neighbors, including Cameroon, Niger and Chad.