A jihadist attack on an army base in western Chad on Tuesday resulted in the deaths of “a dozen troops,” according to a representative for the Chadian government who talked with AFP. In addition, “injuries” were caused by the incident, according to a statement released by Brah Mahamat.
Near Ngouboua, in the Lake Chad region, on the borders of Chad, Niger, Cameroon, and Nigeria, the crime was committed “in the early morning.” This is an area where the jihadist groups Boko Haram and its dissident branch, Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap), regularly attack armies and civilians in the four countries.
According to Mahamat, a military detachment that had been “sent as a forerunner to set up an outpost on the island of Bouka-Toullorom” was “attacked by elements of the Boko Haram sect.” The Chadian government refers to both the Iswap and the group by the same name, “Boko Haram,” without differentiating between the two.
According to the AFP spokesperson, all 10 of those who had been killed or injured were members of the armed services. There are hundreds of islets scattered across the vast expanse of Lake Chad, many of which are used as hiding places by jihadists from Boko Haram and Iswap. Lake Chad is surrounded by swamps.
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Ten days ago, while traveling through the region, Chadian President General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno stated that “today, Boko Haram no longer has the strength to attack the barracks” in the lake area. Instead, the terrorist organization is now focusing its attention on “the population and their property.”
His transitional government has pledged to more than double the size of its army by the end of 2022 in order to combat a variety of security threats, including those posed by Islamist militants with ties to al Qaeda and the Islamic State. This goal is expected to be achieved in order to meet the challenges posed by these groups.
Since it began in 2009, the Boko Haram insurgency in northeast Nigeria has resulted in the deaths of more than 350,000 people and caused millions of others to be displaced from their homes.