Chadian Army accused of bombing scores of Nigerian fishermen to death
The Chadian Army has been accused of bombing scores of Nigerian fishermen to death during an air raid targeted at Boko Haram fighters who killed 40 Chadian troops in an attack on a military base in Lake Chad last weekend.
The development has been confirmed by some fishermen and anti-Jihadist militia who witnessed the horror on Wednesday, October 30, 2024.
A source told AFP that the Chadian Army launched a devastating airstrike bombarding Tilma Island in Kukawa District on the Nigerian side of Lake Chad on Wednesday while fishermen were tending to the catch.
Two anti-jihadist militia assisting Nigerian soldiers in fighting the militant groups in the region confirmed that several fishermen were killed in the aerial shelling.
“There was an attack on fishermen by a (fighter) jet belonging to the Chadian military in Tilma island which killed scores of fishermen.
“The jet mistook the fishermen for Boko Haram terrorists who attacked a military base inside Chad on Sunday,” Babakura Kolo, an anti-jihadist militia leader, said.
Chadian general confirms airstrike that ‘killed’ Nigerian fishermen
A Chadian general staff officer who pleaded anonymity told the French news agency that strikes “were carried out on islands located on the borders of Nigeria and Niger”.
“Boko Haram fighters often blend in with the fishermen and farmers whenever they commit their crimes. It is therefore difficult to distinguish between the population and the terrorists,” he said.
Recall that Boko Haram dealt the Chadian troops a huge blow on Sunday, killing 40 and wounding dozens in a raid on a base in Lake Chad, an area plagued by various armed groups.
The group claimed responsibility for the attack in a propaganda video released on Monday, October 28, 2024.
In response, Chad launched Operation Haskanite aiming not only to secure the country’s peaceful population but also to ‘obliterate’ Boko Haram’s capacities.
Visiting the military base after the jihadist attack, President Mahamat Idriss Deby vowed to “pursue and track down the attackers to their last entrenchment,” according to a Chadian military statement.
Survivors give account
According to Ibrahim Liman, another anti-jihadist militia, most of the victims of the aerial attack were fishermen from the towns of Baga, Doron-Baga and Duguri on the shores of Lake Chad.
“The fighter jet encircled Tilma before beginning to drop bombs while people ran in all directions for cover,” said fisherman Sallau Arzika.
Arzika, who escaped the airstrike and made it back to the garrison town of Monguno, recalled that “A large number of fishermen were killed. No one can give an exact number because bodies are still scattered across Tilma.”
He added that some dead bodies and injured victims were taken to a military base in Mile 4, near Baga.
Fisherman Labo Sani from Doron-Baga revealed that two of his friends were killed in the airstrike while a third was critically injured.
“We were carrying out our fishing and it never crossed our mind that we would be attacked and killed by a fighter jet,” said Sani.
The Chadian onslaught is being personally directed by Deby on the ground, the Presidency said in a social media post on Monday.
The president was “holding multiple meetings with troops, instructing and directing them” to leave Boko Haram “no chance”, it added.
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah appealed to the international community to ramp up its support of counter-terrorism efforts in the troubled region.
Jihadist 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.
