Chad's president launches operation to combat Boko Haram after attack kills over 40 soldiers

Chadian President Mahama Idriss Deby has launched a security operation to track down and neutralize several hundred Boko Haram militants who attacked and killed more than 40 Chadian government troops on Sunday in the Lake Chad basin, which is shared by Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger and Chad becomes. Deby visited the area on Monday and helped bury his soldiers.

Chadian state television reports that President Mhamat Idriss Deby has ordered that flags be flown at half-mast and that all radio and television stations in the Central African states can only play religious music for three days starting at midnight on October 28.

Deby announced three days of national mourning on Monday after visiting Ngouboua, a western Lake Chad village on Bakaram island near the border with Nigeria, where Boko Haram fighters killed at least 40 Chadian government troops on Sunday evening, according to Chad state television.

Since Monday, videos of Deby in military uniform and at the funeral of killed soldiers have been broadcast several times on local television stations, including Chadian state television.

After the funerals, Deby announced the launch of “Haskanite,” a military operation with new troops deployed to Lake Chad to locate and eliminate members of the terrorist group hiding in the large area. Deby spoke on Chad's state television.

He said that as President of Chad, he was the commander-in-chief of government forces and guarantor of the security of the civilian population and that he had ordered the Chadian military to protect the civilian population and their property by detecting and eliminating Boko Haram terrorists Government troops have committed cruel acts there and are hiding in the huge Lake Chad.

Chad officials point out that haskanite is a strong and resilient plant that grows in deserts and the Lake Chad area. The government troops deployed were experienced and had the necessary equipment to defeat the jihadists, said Deby.

According to Chadian military officials, they estimated the number of soldiers in the jihadist attack force at 300, and the surprise attack occurred around 10 p.m. on Sunday. In addition to the 40 dead, several dozen government soldiers were injured, it said.

According to the Chadian military, numerous attackers were killed and fighters managed to escape with some bodies and confiscated weapons. According to the Chadian military, many civilians were killed or injured in the attack. Deby ordered that all civilians and troops receive free medical care.

According to the Chadian military, the heavily armed jihadist fighters took control of the garrison and then set fire to vehicles, motorcycles and buildings equipped with heavy weapons. The attackers disappeared into the waters of Lake Chad and the surrounding villages.

Saibou Issa, a conflict resolution specialist at the University of Maroua in Cameroon, says it will be difficult for Chad to fight the jihadists in Lake Chad single-handedly.

Issa says it is clear that poverty and hardship are pushing Boko Haram fighters, who have either surrendered or been weakened by the firepower of forces from Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and Niger, to join smaller jihadist groups in Lake Chad. He says Lake Chad, which serves as a haven for jihadist groups, is vast and only joint efforts by states that share the lake can stop the increasingly active militants.

Issa spoke on Cameroon state radio on Tuesday. He said the militants attack mainly to supply and seize weapons from both armed groups and government forces in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.

Chad's government says it has briefed the Lake Chad Basin Commission Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) – made up of 11,000 soldiers and rescue workers from Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria – to help in a renewed push against the terror group. VOA could not independently verify whether MNJTF troops were deployed, but Cameroon says its military is vigilant.

According to the United Nations, over 40,000 people have been killed and 3 million have fled their homes in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad. since 2009, when fighting between Nigerian government troops and Boko Haram fighters escalated into an armed conflict and spread to Cameroon, Niger and Chad.