Chad to ‘obliterate’ Boko Haram capabilities after terrorists killed 40 troops
Following a deadly attack by jihadists on a military garrison over the weekend, the Chadian government has vowed to obliterate Boko Haram capabilities.
No fewer than 40 people were killed and dozens wounded on Sunday when the Boko Haram elements raided a base in the Lake Chad region, an area plagued by various armed groups.
In response, Chad launched Operation Haskanite on Monday, aiming not only to secure the country’s peaceful population but also to “hunt down, root out and obliterate the nuisance capability of Boko Haram and its affiliates”, interim Prime Minister Abderahim Bireme Hamid told reporters in N’Djamena.
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah also renewed the nation’s call on the international community to ramp up its support of counter-terrorism efforts in the troubled region.
Boko Haram, other armed groups wreaking havoc in Lake Chad
Jihadists groups such as Boko Haram and its offshoot, Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP), have taken advantage of Lake Chad’s countless islets, which they use as hideouts to carry out regular attacks on civilians and armies of countries in the area – Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.
The Boko Haram insurgency started in Nigeria in 2009, accounting for the death of more than 40,000 people and the displacement of two million, and the organisation has since spread its campaign to neighbouring countries.
In March 2020, the Chadian Army suffered its biggest ever one-day losses in the region, with 100 troops killed during a raid on the lake’s Bohoma peninsula.
As it did at the time, the government has declared three days of national mourning from Tuesday, with flags flying at half-mast and a ban on celebratory activities.
