Sunday\u2019s attack is one of the worst suffered by Chadian soldiers since 2020, when about 100 soldiers died
\n DAKAR
\nAt least 40 Chadian soldiers have been killed after their base was attacked on Sunday evening, the presidency says.
\nPresident Mahamat D\u00e9by has ordered a counter-mission to track down the culprits, according to a statement from his office.
\nThe 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.
\nNo suspects for Sunday\u2019s attack are named in the presidency\u2019s statement, but the area is close to the border zones of Nigeria and Niger where Islamist militants are known to operate.
\nSunday\u2019s attack is one of the worst suffered by Chadian soldiers since 2020, when about 100 soldiers died in a raid which prompted then-President Idriss D\u00e9by to launch an operation against Islamist militants.
\nLocal residents have told the AFP news agency they believe fighters from Boko Haram\u2013an Islamist militant group based over the border in Nigeria\u2013were to blame for this latest attack, and say at least 200 soldiers were stationed at the garrison at the time.
\nIt is a blow to President D\u00e9by, who is an elite soldier by training, and the son of the former president who was killed three years ago in battle with rebels close to the Libyan border.
\nIn its public communications the Chadian presidency has presented D\u00e9by as a hands-on leader with military nous, who visited the site of the attack early on Monday, \u201cassessing the situation on the ground, paying his respects to the deceased soldiers, showing his compassion to the wounded, and raising the morale of his brothers-in-arms\u201d.
\nThe Lake Chad basin is bordered by Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria\u2013all of which are part of a Multinational Joint Task Force that seeks to stamp out the armed groups operating in the region.
\nBut Islamists \u201coften regroup when troops withdraw\u201d, and better funding and planning is needed, says the International Crisis Group.
\nIn recent years, there have been several coups in the region, in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. The military in each country cited the inability to deal with the Islamist militant threat as one of the reasons for the ouster of the civilian governments.
\nAnalyst Paul Melly writes that, surrounded by so many regional crises, Chad stands out as an island of continued stable partnership with the West\u2013and is now deepening relations with Russia in a ploy that irritates and pressures France and the US.
\nChad has also become a key conduit for arms flowing into Sudan, and is hosting large numbers of refugees from the country\u2019s civil war in camps near its eastern border.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sunday\u2019s attack is one of the worst suffered by Chadian soldiers since 2020, when about 100 soldiers died DAKAR At least 40 Chadian soldiers have been killed after their base was attacked on Sunday evening, the presidency says. President Mahamat D\u00e9by has ordered a counter-mission to track down the culprits, according to a statement from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440127,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-440098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n