Scores of Boko Haram elements have been killed during a fierce gunfight between the Chadian army and the insurgents in the Lake Chad region yesterday, a provincial governor told AFP.
Mahamat Fadoul Mackaye said at least 40 Boko Haram fighters were killed following the attack on an army position in the marshy region used as a rear base by jihadist groups including Nigeria-based Boko Haram and a dissident branch, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
“The defence forces responded vigorously to chase away the enemy, which left over 40 bodies and weapons, but we mourn the loss of 12 soldiers,” Mackaye told AFP by telephone.
In a video made available to Neptune Prime, a Chadian soldier is seen counting corpses of the insurgents in Shuwa Arab and warning them to steer clear of his country.
Both Boko Haram and ISWAP regularly target the army as well as civilians.
ISWAP split from Boko Haram in 2016 and became a dominant group, launching attacks on military bases and ambushing troops while abducting travellers at bogus checkpoints.
Tuesday’s fighting took place at dawn between the towns of Ngouboua and Kaiga, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of the capital N’Djamena, a high-ranking security forces official said, requesting anonymity.
The spokesman of the Chadian army, General Azem Bermandoa Agouna, confirmed the attack but declined to give a casualty toll when contacted by AFP.
With agency reports.
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