Iftar Timings Mar 29 - Ramazan 18

Lahore
LHR
06:20 PM
Karachi
KHI
06:47 PM
Islamabad
ISB
06:26 PM
Peshawar
PWR
06:31 PM
Quetta
QTA
06:49 PM

News

Chad army says 52 troops, 1,000 jihadists killed in offensive

April 9, 2020 09:01 PM


The Chadian army said Thursday it had wound up an offensive against Boko Haram jihadists in the Lake Chad border region in which 52 troops and 1,000 jihadists were killed.

Army spokesman Colonel Azem Bermendoa Agouna told AFP that the operation, launched after nearly 100 soldiers were killed last month, ended Wednesday after the Nigerian jihadists were forced out of the country. "A thousand terrorists have been killed, 50 motorised canoes have been destroyed," he said, referring to a large boat also called a pirogue.

It is the first official snapshot of the outcome of Operation Bohoma Anger, launched after Chad's armed forces suffered their biggest one-day loss in their history. Lake Chad is a vast, marshy body of water where the borders of Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon meet.

The western shores of the lake have been hit by jihadists crossing from northeastern Nigeria, where Boko Haram launched a bloody campaign of violence in 2009. On March 23, jihadists mounted a deadly seven-hour assault on a Chadian army base at Bohoma, killing at least 98 troops, according to an official toll.

Chad declared departments near the lake "a war zone" in order to give the military free rein for the offensive. The four countries bordering the lake on 2015 set up a formation called the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), also including Benin, to fight Boko Haram.

But Chad, whose forces have a relatively high standing in the Sahel, has shown frustration with the MNJTF following the Bohoma losses.

"Chad is alone in shouldering all the burden of the war against Boko Haram," President Idriss Deby Itno complained last weekend. "I met the commander of the MNJTF and asked him to take over."

Boko Haram's 11-year-old campaign has claimed tens of thousands of lives in northeast Nigeria and driven nearly two million people from their homes.

Separately, in Niger, the defence ministry in Niamey said its armed forces, in a joint operation with Chad, had inflicted "heavy losses" on Boko Haram in the lake region. "Arms caches, logistical points and several boats were destroyed" and islands used as rear bases in the lake's marshland were "bombarded from the air," it said.

Landlocked and poor, Niger is facing jihadist attacks in opposite ends of the country -- an insurgency that has spilled over from neighbouring Mali, and raids in the Lake Chad region by Boko Haram fighters. In Burkina Faso, meanwhile, five soldiers were killed and three were wounded on Thursday when their unit came under attack from jihadists in Solle, in the northern province of Loroum, an army official said.

Around 4,000 people lost their lives last year in jihadist- or community-related violence in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, according to UN figures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOavNaBX4NU


Most Read

  1. Man murders young sister by smothering her with pillow in Toba Tek Singh Man murders young sister by smothering her with pillow in Toba Tek Singh
  2. Aitchison College students, parents stage protest against principal’s resignation Aitchison College students, parents stage protest against principal’s resignation
  3. Five Chinese among six killed in Shangla suicide bombing Five Chinese among six killed in Shangla suicide bombing
  4. Sahiba meets her father for the first time Sahiba meets her father for the first time
  5. Maaz Safder regrets 4-year relationship with wife Saba Maaz Safder regrets 4-year relationship with wife Saba
  6. ‘Khaie's incredible ending receives rave reviews and big applause ‘Khaie's incredible ending receives rave reviews and big applause

Opinion

  1. IMEC to sabotage CPEC
    IMEC to sabotage CPEC

    By Dr Asif Channer

  2. 1947 TO FORM 47
    1947 TO FORM 47

    By Dr Asif Channer

  3. Beijing wants to further highlight industrial sector in its country and take scientific innovation to new heights....
    Beijing wants to further highlight industrial sector in its country and take scientific innovation to new heights....

    By Ali Ramay

  4. Global race: China will reduce its unnecessary expenses
    Global race: China will reduce its unnecessary expenses

    By Ali Ramay

  5. Channer Pir: The Great Saint of Cholistan
    Channer Pir: The Great Saint of Cholistan

    By Dr Asif Channer

  6. Literate the Religious Illiterate
    Literate the Religious Illiterate

    By Dr Asif Channer