DAKAR: Around 40 Chad soldiers were killed in an attack on a military base in the Lake Chad region late Sunday night, the central African country’s presidency said in a statement on Monday.
Chad President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno swiftly launched an operation to track down the attackers responsible for the assault near the town of Ngouboua in western Chad.
Although the presidency did not specify the group behind the attack, the Lake Chad region has frequently been targeted by Boko Haram, a militant group. A local source reported that the attackers briefly seized control of the military garrison, taking weapons, destroying vehicles equipped with heavy arms, and then retreating.
The attack occurred at around 10:00 pm local time (2100 GMT), AFP reported while citing sources. President Deby visited the site of the attack early Monday morning, vowing to hunt down the perpetrators. “We will pursue the attackers to their furthest hideouts,” he said in a statement.
In March 2020, Chad suffered one of its worst losses in the region when approximately 100 soldiers were killed in a Boko Haram raid on the Bohoma peninsula. The attack prompted a fierce military response from then-president Idriss Deby Itno.
The ongoing conflict in the Lake Chad area has forced over 220,000 people from their homes, according to the International Organization for Migration.
