Dozens of Chadian soldiers killed in Boko Haram attack
A Chadian army soldier in training (illustration).
© Sgt.
Derek Hamilton (US Army) / Creative Commons
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
According to the sources, between 20 to 40 Chadian soldiers were killed on Tuesday, November 23 in the Lac province (southeast).
A press release from the Chadian presidency mentions a surprise attack.
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The attack targeted an advanced army post which was being set up on the island of Bouka Toullorom, near Ngouboua, as part of a reorganization of the military system to deal with jihadists that the power said weakened.
The assailants, very numerous, attacked in successive waves.
They finally managed to enter the advanced post which they destroyed, before taking weapons, specify local sources.
The balance sheet is heavy.
The presidency evokes about twenty dead and wounded in the ranks of the army.
Other sources speak of more than 35 killed, as well as about twenty wounded and several soldiers missing.
According to these same sources, the jihadists also killed at least four civilians as they retreated to their hideouts.
No balance sheet on the Boko Haram side was available this evening.
This attack is the deadliest since the one that killed nearly a hundred people two years ago in Bouma.
Above all, it comes ten days after a visit by Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno to the area.
During this visit, the transitional president declared that Boko Haram was "
seriously weakened
", no longer dared to "
attack the army head-on
" and was now engaged
in "banditry
", such as taking hostages. .
Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno had therefore announced the sending of 600 soldiers to reinforce the thousands of others already there, as well as the reorganization of the armed forces into more mobile units, "
to cope
", explains Sieddick Abba, a specialist in region.
This Tuesday's attack is a way for these jihadists to respond to him that they still have a capacity for nuisance, while everyone said they were losing momentum, analyzes the specialist.
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Chad
Terrorism