Boko Haram attack kills 23 soldiers in Chad’s Lake Chad region

At least 23 Chadian soldiers have been killed and 26 injured in a Boko Haram attack on a military post in Chad’s Lake Chad region, according to the country’s armed forces.

The military said in a statement on Tuesday that the Nigeria-based armed group – which has long posed a threat around Lake Chad, located at the junction of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria – struck on Monday night on Chad’s island of Barka Tolorom.

The army said “a significant number” of the attackers were killed and the group was repelled.

“Once again, the nebulous Boko Haram terrorist group carried out a cowardly attack last night on our military base at Barka Tolorom,” Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said on Tuesday in a Facebook post.

“We will continue the fight with renewed determination until this threat is completely eradicated,” he said, offering his condolences to the bereaved families.

Chadian soldiers have come under increasing fire from Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region, with an October 2024 attack killing about 40 soldiers in the Chadian army’s ranks.

Recent months have also seen a surge in attacks by the group’s JAS faction, including kidnappings and attacks on advanced army positions, especially on the islands and along Niger’s portion of the lake’s shores.

In response to the October 2024 attack, Deby launched a counteroffensive, which he promised to “personally” lead on the ground for two weeks.

After that offensive ended in February last year, the army insisted that Boko Haram had “no more sanctuary on Chadian territory”.

Lake Chad’s islands and marshes also serve as a haven for Boko Haram’s rival splinter group, the ISIL affiliate in West Africa Province (ISWAP).

The landlocked Central African country has faced years of instability, marked by recurring rebellions, armed factions, and coups. Despite its oil wealth, economic stagnation and a harsh climate have kept Chad among the poorest nations in Africa.

(Al Jazeera)