Chadian forces have launched a series of air strikes against Boko Haram positions, inflicting “many dead and wounded” among the militants, according to President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno. The president, speaking Thursday from the Lake Chad region, disclosed that he had personally overseen the offensive response to Boko Haram’s recent assault on the Chadian army in the country’s western region, near the Nigerian border.
“In several air strikes, we have inflicted numerous casualties on enemy positions,” Deby stated without specifying exact numbers. Clad in military fatigues, Deby expressed Chad’s determination to dismantle Boko Haram following the extremist group’s October attack that left around 40 Chadian soldiers dead and many others wounded.
Chad’s government committed to “obliterate” Boko Haram in response to the attack, pledging a campaign to eliminate the jihadist presence. Interim Prime Minister Abderahim Bireme Hamid emphasized last week that the operation was not only to protect Chad’s citizens but to “root out” Boko Haram and other militant affiliates.
The Lake Chad area, with its vast, swampy islands, has long served as a base for Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP), who often target local armies and civilian populations. To counter this, Chad, alongside Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon, established a multinational coalition force of 8,500 troops in 2015 to combat these insurgent groups.
Boko Haram has waged a violent insurgency across Nigeria since 2009, with the conflict spilling over into neighboring countries. To date, the organization is responsible for over 40,000 deaths in the region, with countless lives impacted by the ongoing conflict.
