An overnight attack by suspected Boko Haram jihadists on a Chadian military base has killed at least 24 people, a military official and regional administrator told AFP on Tuesday.
The Barka Tolorom base is on the shores of Lake Chad, which
straddles Cameroon, Chad, the Republic of Niger and Nigeria, and whose islands
provide a refuge for jihadists from Boko Haram and other Islamist militant
groups.
The raid late on Monday “left 25 dead and 46 wounded on the
Chadian army side”, the security source told AFP.
A separate administrative official gave a toll of “24 dead
and several wounded”.
Both attributed the attack to Boko Haram, with the
administrator insisting that “the situation is under control”.
“Once again, the nebulous Boko Haram terrorist group carried
out a cowardly attack last night on our military base at Barka Tolorom,”
Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said on Tuesday in a Facebook post.
“We will continue the fight with renewed determination until
this threat is completely eradicated,” he pledged, offering his condolences to
the bereaved families.
Soldiers have come under increasing attacks from Boko Haram
in the Lake Chad region, with an October 2024 ambush leaving some 40 dead in
the Chadian army’s ranks.
Recent months have also seen a surge in attacks by the
group’s JAS faction, including kidnappings and attacks on advanced army
positions, especially on the islands and along Niger’s portion of the lake’s
shores.
In response to the October 2024 attack, Deby launched a
counter-offensive which he vowed to “personally” lead on the ground for two
weeks.
After that offensive ended in February 2025, the army
insisted that Boko Haram had “no more sanctuary on Chadian territory”.
Lake Chad’s islands and marshes also serve as a haven for
Boko Haram’s rival splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province
(ISWAP).
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