Two Chadian troops have been killed fighting jihadists in the Lake Chad region, whose marshlands are a bolthole for Islamist fighters, President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said Monday.

"Our brave forces have just repelled an attack by the shadowy Boko Haram sect in the Bol area," 300 kilometres (180 miles) from the capital N'Djamena, he said on Twitter.

"Two soldiers fell while carrying out their duty," he said, adding that "about 10 terrorists also died."

An insurgency by Boko Haram jihadists erupted in northeastern Nigeria in 2009 before spreading to neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Chad, which border the lake.

More than 36,000 people, most of them Nigerians, have died, and three million people have fled their homes, according to UN figures.

Boko Haram is fighting a dissenting group, the Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP. The Chadian authorities use "Boko Haram" as a general term for jihadists.

dwi-yas-lad/dyg/cpy/ri/bp

Twitter

Related Links
Africa News - Resources, Health, Food

Tweet

Tigray rebels deny 'direct engagements' with Ethiopia govt
Nairobi (AFP) Aug 13, 2022
Tigrayan rebels denied Saturday they have had "direct engagements" with the Ethiopian government, following a statement by the African Union which has been leading a push to end the 21-month conflict. Getachew Reda, spokesman for the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), said an AFP story that cited an AU statement was "pure fabrication". "Such engagement simply didn't happen!" he said on Twitter. In a statement dated August 4 but posted on its website on Thursday, the AU's Peace and Sec ... read more