At least 40 Chadian soldiers have been k!lled after an attack on their base, Sunday evening.
President Mahamat Déby has ordered a counter-mission to track down the culprits, according to a statement from his office.
The attack reportedly happened on an island called Barkaram, in a vast marshy region that was once covered by the waters of Lake Chad before its dramatic shrinking in recent decades.
No suspects for Sunday’s attack are named in the presidency’s statement, but the area is close to the border zones of Nigeria and Niger where Islamist militants are known to operate.
Sunday’s attack is one of the worst suffered by Chadian soldiers since 2020, when about 100 soldiers d!ed in a raid which prompted then-President Idriss Déby to launch an operation against Islamist militants.
Local residents have told the AFP news agency they believe fighters from Boko Haram – an Islamist militant group based over the border in Nigeria – were to blame for this latest attack, and say at least 200 soldiers were stationed at the garrison at the time.
The attackers had time to seize ammunition and equipment before they left, AFP adds.
