Boko Haram kills four in Chad

Two bomb blasts carried out by women attackers in the flashpoint area of Lake Chad on Sunday killed four people and wounded 14 others, a security source in the Chadian capital N’Djamena said.

“The two women suicide bombers and two civilians died in the blast,” the source told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that 14 others were injured in the attack blamed on the Boko Haram sect on Ngouboua village near the Nigerian border.

The village has suffered repeated attacks by Boko Haram jihadists since they first launched operations in Chad in February.

Suicide bombings — many by women and girls — are fast becoming Boko Haram’s preferred method of inflicting civilian casualties.

The deadliest attack on Chad’s side of the lake took place on October 10, when three suicide attacks at Baga Sola killed 41 people, according to the Chadian government.

Boko Haram kills four in Chad

3 Boko Haram terrorists killed by own bomb

Three militants of the Boko Haram group died on Tuesday when a bomb they were transporting exploded in Niger’s Far East region of Diffa, local sources said.

The bomb exploded when they were about to enter Bosso town, one of the sources told newsmen, adding that the militants were planning to carry out an attack.

On Sunday, 10 people, among them one soldier, five civilians and four suicide bombers, were killed in two separate suicide attacks by Boko Haram in Diffa.

The two bombs targeted a military camp and a Mosque in Diffa, a few days after two Nigerien soldiers were killed in an ambush by the militants in the same region.

In the last seven months, Niger, like other countries within the Lake Chad basin, came under Boko Haram attacks from its bases in Nigeria.

A multinational force including troops from Nigeria, Cameroun, Chad and Niger were fighting Boko Haram as Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari vowed to beat the group.

3 Boko Haram terrorists killed by own bomb

Chad executes 10 Boko Haram suspects by firing squad

Chad executed 10 alleged members of Nigeria-based Islamist group, Boko Haram, by firing squad Saturday, a day after they were found guilty of a double suicide killing that left 38 people dead in the capital N’Djamena.

Picture of 10 Boko Haram sentenced to death in Chad

“They were executed this morning on a shooting ground north of N’Djamena,” a judicial source told AFP. The report was confirmed by a security source who asked not to be identified.

The 10 were condemned to death Friday in the country’s first trial of presumed members of the Islamist group. The hearings opened Wednesday.

Nigeria’s neighbours Chad, Cameroon and Niger have all suffered attacks by Boko Haram and earlier this year they announced a regional force to end the militants’ insurgency that has claimed more than 15,000 lives since 2009.

The defendants were accused of criminal conspiracy, killings, wilful destruction with explosives, fraud, illegal possessions of arms and ammunition, as well as using psychotropic substances.

The accused include Nigerian national Mahamat Mustapha, also known as Bana Fanaye, who according to Chadian authorities masterminded the June 15 suicide attacks that struck a school and a police building in N’Djamena, killing 38 people and injuring 101.

On July 12, a fresh attack in the Chadian capital claimed by Boko Haram left at least 15 dead and 80 hurt after an assailant dressed as a woman blew himself up in the central marketplace.

Shortly after Fanaye’s arrest in late June, Chad’s top prosecutor Alghassim Kassim said the suspect was the “ringleader of a network smuggling weapons and munitions between Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad”.

Chad has beefed up security in response to the bloodshed.

The regional force against Boko Haram is expected to number some 8,700 troops and police, but it has yet to go into action

 

Chad executes 10 Boko Haram suspects by firing squad

Chad sentences 10 Boko Haram members to death

At least 10 members of the Boko Haram sect have been sentenced to death in Chad as part of efforts by that country to stamp out lawlessness.

The 10 were found guilty of terrorism by a court in the capital, N’Djamena, according to Reuters’ report quoting judicial sources.

“They are all sentenced to death,” said one of the sources.

N’Djamena, less than 100 kilometres from the Nigerian border, was hit by a series of suicide bombings in June and July that killed more than 40 people.

Chad sentences 10 Boko Haram members to death

Suicide bomber kills three, injures three in Maiduguri

A suicide bomber driving a commercial tricycle has killed three persons and injured three others on Saturday morning in Maiduguri, Borno State, witnesses have said.According to one of the witnesses, Yusuf Adamu, the explosion occurred at about 7.10am when motor parks in the town were full of activities as travelers get to join commuter buses out of town.

Bomb Scene

Adamu said a tricycle attempted to ram into a vehicle that just came out of Borno Motor Garage, the biggest in the town, where vehicles were joined to destinations outside the town.

Adamu, who claimed he was near the scene of the incident, said the tricyclist had waited for a vehicle to emerge from the motor park and immediately sped after it but could not catch up with it.

About a kilometer away, it exploded and killed three passers-by on the highway and left another three injured.

He said: “I was at the motor park to board a vehicle when the explosion occurred. The park is near the SSS office and a tricycle was targeting a bus that just left the motor park but triggered off the explosion before it could get to bus. Four people, including the bomber, were killed.”

Meanwhile a suicide bomber has struck outside a main crowded market in Chad’s capital, killing 17 people and injuring scores of others, a police spokesman told Al Jazeera.

Authorities said the assailant was disguised as a woman wearing a full face veil when he detonated explosives as police tried to stop him in N’Djamena on Saturday.

Two policemen were among those killed in the third attack in the country’s capital in less than a month.

Saturday’s blast came a week after suspected Boko Haram fighters killed 26 people in nightly attacks on two villages on Lake Chad.

Less than a month ago, suicide bombers on motorcycles attacked two buildings in N’Djamena, killing nearly 40 people in the first assault of its kind since the armed group threatened the country earlier this year.

Suicide bomber kills three, injures three in Maiduguri

Chad bans Islamic veil after Boko Haram attacks, divides Muslims

N’Djamena (AFP) – Chad’s decision to ban women from wearing the Islamic veil, which came two days after bloody suicide bombings hit the capital, has divided Muslims but the government defends it as part of an anti-terror strategy.

Kaduna bomber in woman’s clothes

“Wearing the burqa must stop immediately from today,” Prime Minister Kalzeube Pahimi Deubet told religious leaders on Wednesday, after the twin bombings left 33 people dead and more than 100 others injured in the capital N’Djamena.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but authorities blame Nigerian jihadist group Boko Haram, which has carried out many suicide bombings inside Nigeria in the past six years, sometimes by women who hid explosives under modest outer garments.

Chad’s army has spearheaded a regional military effort to fight Boko Haram as the militant sect extended activities beyond Nigeria’s northeastern borders. After Monday’s blasts, the Chadian air force bombed Boko Haram positions inside Nigeria.

Many Muslim women in N’Djamena wear the full-face veil with just the eyes exposed known as the niqab, which is usually black. But Deubet outlawed any clothing “where you can only see the eyes”.

In a country where Muslims make up 53 percent of the population — with Christians accounting for 35 percent — the ban on the Islamic veil, including the completely face-covering burqa, has prompted mixed reactions.

Abdelsadick Djidda, a 45-year-old teacher, said the move was “taken for our safety”.

“Wearing the burqa doesn’t derive from Chadian culture,” he said. “It comes from elsewhere. And it’s recommended nowhere in the holy book (the Koran).”

Djidda added: “As a Muslim, I find that people go overboard a little with this camouflage.”

– ‘Seize all burqas on sale’ –

Other Muslims are shocked by the decision, which comes as the holy fasting month of Ramadan gets under way.

Hassan Barka, a mechanic, said he didn’t see the connection between the burqa and terrorism.

“It isn’t people in burqas who commit attacks and this dress has become customary for many Chadians,” said Barka, a mechanic. “It is difficult to implement this decision. Maybe time is needed to spread awareness.”

The tough prohibition is a first in Africa. Some countries like Tunisia ordered similar measures before now because of a growing risk of terrorist attacks, but they were partial and temporary steps.

The Chadian regime has ordered security forces to “go into the markets and seize all burqas on sale and burn them”, while warning of arrest and summary trial for anyone caught dressed in the veil and robe.

“The Superior Council of Islamic Affairs (CSAI) finds that the government’s decision is not contrary to the principles of Islam,” influential CSAI chairman Cheick Hussein Hassan Abakar has ruled.

In a poor nation that bears deep scars after the bloody inter-faith clashes during a civil war in 1979-1982, President Idriss Deby Itno has long been wary of the emergence of extremist movements.

In power since 1990, when he toppled dictator Hissene Habre — who is set to go on trial in Senegal for crimes against humanity on July 20 — Deby has repeatedly stressed that “the secular nature of the state is an essential value”.

– ‘Very tolerant Islam’ –

“We’re lucky to have very tolerant Islam. The Muslims of Chad are mainly Sufis, they are pacifists,” said the secretary general of King Faisal University in N’Djamena, Abakar Walar Modou.

“But Islam can be manipulated. In (the civil war) politicians tried to plunge Christians and Muslims into chaos,” he recalled.

As Boko Haram has gained ground towards N’Djamena, which lies on the border with a narrow strip of Cameroon that separates it from Nigeria, the authorities have redoubled their watch over the capital.

The regime seeks to prevent radical Islam from taking root in Chad, where conservative Wahhabis and Salafis make up between five and 10 percent of Muslims, according to the US State Department.

“The Boko Haram phenomenon has thus far had no impact on the population, but the risk is there,” warned Walar Modou.

“The CSAI keeps an extremely close watch over Koranic teachings, preaching in the mosques and even the radio,” he added.

Last March, authorities dissolved a Salafist association held to be a risk to law and order. International watchdog Freedom House in 2013 reported bans on some Islamic charities operating in poor districts.

“Purely and simply banning an association is no solution,” Walar Modou said. “You can’t halt an ideology that way, it causes frustration.”

Chad bans Islamic veil after Boko Haram attacks, divides Muslims

4 Chadian soldiers, 33 Islamists killed in Boko Haram clash

A clash between Chad’s army and Boko Haram on a Lake Chad island has killed four soldiers and 33 Islamists, a military spokesman said Friday.

“Boko Haram elements on Wednesday attacked our forces in Choua,” military spokesman Colonel Azem Bermandoa Agouna told AFP, referring to a Lake Chad island in Chadian territory.

“The Chadian army violently repelled the attack. We killed 33 Boko Haram members and recovered several light arms and anti-tank grenades. We regret the loss of four soldiers and also recorded four wounded,” the Chadian military spokesman said.

 

4 Chadian soldiers, 33 Islamists killed in Boko Haram clash

Boko Haram: Obama snubs Nigeria again, gives $35m military support to France

President Barack Obama has ordered the release of $35 million worth of U.S. military and defence assistance to France which has been backing the military of Chad, Niger and Mali in the fight against jihadist group, Boko Haram, ignoring Nigeria that has been at the centre of the five-year insurgency.

A press statement from the White House on Wednesday said the United States leader gave the support to enable France secure the three French-speaking African nations, who all share borders with Nigeria.

In the White House statement, President Obama gave authority to US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to facilitate the US assistance to Mali, Niger and Chad.

“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby delegate to the Secretary of State the authority under section 506(a)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to direct the drawdown of up to $35 million in defense services of the Department of Defense to provide assistance to France in its efforts to secure Mali, Niger, and Chad from terrorists and violent extremists, and to make the determinations required under such section to direct such a drawdown,” the statement said.

The omission is seen as another fallout of the strained relations between Nigeria and the United States over the Boko Haram war.

Nigeria suspended a military training with the U.S. in 2014 after the Americans repeatedly blocked its effort to buy arms to fight Bok Haram.

The US government denied Nigeria the sales of US-made Cobra fighter-helicopters. New information now have revealed that the sales were coming from Israel which had okayed the deal from its own inventory, but needed US approval since the fighter-helicopters were from America.

The Israeli government under the terms of the US assistance cannot transfer the military helicopter to another foreign country except the US government approved it.

The United States had criticised the Nigerian military’s human rights record and its handling of the Boko Haram crisis, particular the search for over 200 schoolgirls abducted by the group, from Chibok, Borno State.

With the current administration winding down in less than a month, the American government now appears ready to provide improved assistance to Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram, once the Muhammadu Buhari presidency takes office May 29.

Last week in New York at the Time magazine Influential 100 people gala, top US government officials including Samantha Powers promised that the US will do more to support the search for the Chibok girls and the fight against Boko Haram in Nigeria.

Boko Haram: Obama snubs Nigeria again, gives $35m military support to France

African leaders restrategise against Boko Haram

A joint summit of Heads of State of Economic Community of West African States and the Economic Community of Central African States will hold in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on Wednesday for adoption of a strategy against the terrorist group, Boko Haram.

The ECOWAS in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, stated that the meeting is against the backdrop of mounting and increasingly bloody attacks by the fundamentalists against Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad “with their serious consequences for these countries, and the real risk of destabilisation that they induce in West and Central Africa.”

The commission explained that experts from both organisations had held a preliminary meeting in Douala, Cameroon on April 2, 2015, to prepare ground for the summit.

It noted that the experts identified the particular objective of the strategy, which aims to eradicate Boko Haram.

The regional body said, “The experts submitted coordination mechanism between the incumbent presidents and between the executives of the two regional economic commissions, and also how to articulate the strategy at the operational level.”

The Doula meeting, the Commission said, was attended by Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal from ECOWAS, while for ECCAS, in addition to Cameroon, the host country, the participants came from Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, DR Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe and Chad.

African leaders restrategise against Boko Haram

I warned Jonathan against Boko Haram ceasefire, Chad’s President opens up

President Idris Deby of Chad has spoken publicly about the 2014 botched ceasefire between the Nigerian government and the jihadist group, Boko Haram, which he was said to have facilitated.

Mr. Deby said he warned President Goodluck Jonathan against holding talks with the militant group, saying the whole episode was orchestrated by Boko Haram to buy time and regroup.

He said President Jonathan dismissed the advice and held talks with the group, a decision Mr. Deby said was for political reasons. He accused Mr. Jonathan of downplaying the Boko Haram threat.

“I told President Goodluck not to open negotiations with terrorists … but it was a political choice,” Mr. Deby told French magazine, Le Point, in an interview republished by AFP news agency.

“It has become something too serious for Nigerians to ignore. The blood of the dead that we have been counting every day for the past few years demands attention.”

The October ceasefire humiliated the Nigerian government after it claimed to have reached a deal with the insurgents, who are responsible for more than 15,000 deaths.

At the time, the Nigerian military said the talks were credible and directed its field commanders to immediately suspend hostilities against Boko Haram.

The talks were reportedly facilitated by Mr. Deby, accused earlier of providing safe haven for Boko Haram militants.

Shortly after the announcement, Boko Haram continued its attacks, sacking villages and killing innocent people.

The Nigerian government initially claimed splinter groups of the sect were responsible for the continued fighting, but later blamed the failure on sabotage.

Mr. Deby said President Jonathan and his military had underestimated Boko Haram for too long.

“The whole world is asking why the Nigerian army, which is a big army… is not in a position to stand up to untrained kids armed with Kalashnikovs,” he said.

Speaking about the ongoing war that involves Chad, Niger and Cameroun, Mr. Deby said the Nigerian military has not cooperated with his country in fighting the jihadists.

He said the two sides have not had any direct contact since Chad became involved in the conflict.

“Two months after the start of this war, we have not had any direct contact with the Nigerian army units on the ground,” he said.

“We would have hoped to have at least one Nigerian unit with us. It was even a direct request to the Nigerian government, but for reasons that escape us, up to now we have been unable to work together.”

He said his country has had to capture territories twice in Nigeria, as the Nigerian military would not take over towns, allowing Boko Haram to return.

“The Chadian army is fighting alone in its part of the Nigerian interior and that is a problem. We have had to retake certain towns twice,” Mr. Deby said. “We are forced to abandon them and Boko Haram returns, and we have to go back. That has a human and material cost.”

Mr. Deby said Boko Haram has long been trained by ISIS in Libya, and that the group’s recent public declaration of allegiance was a mere formality that did not surprise him.

“(IS) has always trained young people from Boko Haram in the use of explosives, the use of heavy weapons and armoured vehicles. They are trained by (IS) in Libya… and are then sent to Nigeria,” he told Le Point.

“I’m not surprised that (Boko Haram leader) Abubakar Shekau, who has difficulties at the moment… is trying to make people believe that he only just made contact with them.”

I warned Jonathan against Boko Haram ceasefire, Chad’s President opens up

Nigerian military warns neighbouring troops over careless statement

The Nigerian military has raised concern over careless talks and undue exuberance by some individuals from the military of neighbouring countries involved in the Multinational Joint Task Force, MJNTF, which have the implication of destabilising the spirit of the joint efforts against terrorism within the sub-region.

Reacting to a purported statement in some media by officials from the MJTF that troops from Niger and Chad made deep incursions into Nigerian territory to battle Boko Haram elements, the Director Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade, advised that it was necessary for officers from participating countries to beware of the terms they use while speaking with the press and also understand the implications of those terms.

According to him, “The location in question has to be mentioned before one can confirm whether it is part of an assigned or authorised mission or an incursion as described. This campaign against terror only makes provision for collaboration and cooperation; not incursion into territories. I think there is a careless use of terms by some inexperienced people or officials eager to make impression without understanding the implications. There’s no allowance for incursion here.

“The truth is that there were some pre-emptive manoeuvres along an axis in the theatre. Nigerian forces were also involved. It is unfortunate if that is what this young man is reporting in this false and divisive way. He may have to be called to order to stop this exuberant attitude of misinforming people as this is not good for our collective efforts. We will take this up where it matters.”

Nigerian military warns neighbouring troops over careless statement

Boko Haram launches deadly first attack in Chad

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Boko Haram Islamist fighters on Friday carried out their first attack inside Chad, killing five people in an early morning assault on a Chadian village and a military camp on the shores of Lake Chad, residents and a security source said.

“They came on board three canoes,” a Ngouboua village resident said.

A security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the militants had killed at least four villagers and one Chadian soldier before the army was able to push them back.

Boko Haram militants based in northern Nigeria have staged a number of cross-border attacks in recent weeks in their campaign to carve out an Islamist emirate around the Lake Chad area which borders Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

Chad’s army, one of the best in the region, has joined a regional offensive against them and says it has killed hundreds of fighters in the past fortnight.

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Boko Haram launches deadly first attack in Chad

Boko Haram wages new Niger attack as MPs vote on troops

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Nigeria’s Boko Haram fighters launched a new attack in neighbouring Niger on Monday, as parliament in Niamey was set to vote on joining a regional force against the Islamists.

The militants raided a prison in the southeastern border town of Diffa but were repelled after a heavy exchange of fire, humanitarian sources said.

“The attack failed. The assailants were quite easily pushed back,” one source told AFP.

No casualty toll was immediately available after the raid by Boko Haram, which has widened its deadly six-year insurgency in Nigeria with attacks in neighbouring countries.

A journalist in Diffa said he saw the bodies of Boko Haram fighters in a hearse despatched by the town hall, but he was unable to count them.

Some Boko Haram fighters sought to hide out in the town. “The soldiers are looking for them, weapons at the ready. The army has encircled Diffa,” the journalist said.

Another journalist said some of the fighters were being held in the prison they attacked.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau vowed in a new video released on Monday to defeat the military force taking shape to fight the militants in Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger.

Niger’s parliament was expected on Monday to support a proposal to deploy troops inside Nigeria to help in the battle, along with soldiers from Chad and Cameroon.

Niger said 109 Islamists were killed in an attack last week on Diffa and a simultaneous assault on Bosso, also close to the border, the first by Boko Haram in the country.

Four soldiers and a civilian were killed and 17 other troops were wounded.

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Boko Haram wages new Niger attack as MPs vote on troops

Nigeria, Chad Reaffirm Commitment To Eradicate Boko Haram

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Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh and his Republic of Chad counterpart, Major General Ibrahim Mahamat, Friday met in Abuja to fine-tune strategies on how to stamp out Boko Haram from both countries.

Alex Badeh Ibrahim Seid Mahamat

The Defence Chiefs signed an addendum to an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to wipe out Boko Haram after 8 hours of closed door meeting, which had in attendance Nigeria’s Service Chiefs, the Ambassador of Chad to Nigeria and other military top brass from Chad.

Badeh said: “As I said earlier in the morning, what we have is just an addition to the MOU we signed in Chad on the 18th of January, 2015”.

He explained that: “we are aware you are already working around Fotokol and Gamboru Ngala while we are working from the southern part so that we can meet somewhere in the middle and finish this thing once and for all”.

Fielding questions from journalists, CDS Badeh said Chadian forces are on Nigerian territory mostly at the border now of Fotokol and Gamboru Ngala, on the basis of the bilateral agreement signed with them.

“We have been working together since, and they came in now to clear some grey areas, that is what we have done and we have just made an addendum to the MOU that we signed on the 18th of January”.

He noted further that Chad is bringing a force of about 2500 soldiers and Nigeria is deploying about 5000 troops to work specifically with the Chadian Forces.

Speaking earlier before the meeting, the Chadian Chief of Defence Staff, Mahamat said: “Our visit here is to discuss with our Nigerian colleagues, to discuss the issue of boko haram and how we will coordinate and probably eradicate it”.

Badeh had also commented that they have had several meetings under the auspices of the Lake Chad Basin Commission. “And you are aware that because of the failure of the multi-lateral or the inadequacies of the multi-lateral agreement, we have had on the 18 January, myself and the Chief of Army Staff flew to Ndjamena and held talks with you”, he added.

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Nigeria, Chad Reaffirm Commitment To Eradicate Boko Haram

It’s a disgrace that neighbours must take on Boko Haram – Buhari

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Presidential flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is appalled that neighbouring Chad and Cameroun are turning out to be more successful at the battle front against Boko Haram than Nigeria.

Nigeria’s poor performance,he says,is a disgrace.

“It’s a big disgrace for Nigeria. It is now Cameroon and Chad fighting the insurgency more than Nigeria. We will build the capacity and Nigeria should be able to secure its territorial integrity,” Buhari told Reuters.

Troops from neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon, all much smaller and poorer than Nigeria, have been battling the terrorists who have seized territory in Borno State.

Niger Republic said yesterday its troops killed 109 Boko Haram fighters in an attempted attack on Bosso close to the border with Nigeria.

The attack was repelled.

Buhari said that he was committed to using the courts if there are irregularities in the voting, and would not call his followers into the streets.

“I’m optimistic that I won’t lose. But we signed an undertaking that it will be violence free,” Buhari said. “We are attempting to stabilise a multi party democratic system.”

Buhari’s party,APC, insists that this month’s elections should proceed as scheduled ,saying the only reason the pro-Jonathan camp is pushing for a delay is that it knows he will lose if voting goes ahead now.

“There will be no delay. But if INEC is compromised then it will be too bad,” said Buhari.

Buhari said his administration also intends to tackle corruption within the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) and plans to reopen an investigation into missing crude revenues of around $20 billion.

He would also tackle the theft of crude tapped from pipelines in the Niger River delta.

“Our main objective is to secure the country. We will not tolerate insurgency, sabotage of the economy by the blowing up of installations, by stealing crude and so on…. All these things will be things of the past.”

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It’s a disgrace that neighbours must take on Boko Haram – Buhari

Nigeria, Chad, others launch joint operation against Boko Haram

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A total of 3,600 foreign soldiers from Nigeria’s francophone neigbours have been deployed to work alongside the Nigerian component of the Multi National Joint Task Force to fight the members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect.

Nigeria soldiers fighting Boko Haram

Investigation conducted by our correspondent revealed that Chad with 2, 500 soldiers contributed the largest number of troops to the new offensive against the sect.

The other countries, Niger and Cameroon are contributing 700 and 400 troops respectively to the joint campaigns against the insurgents.

It was also learnt that the MNJTF had started massive air strikes and ground offensives against the insurgents. Though it was reported that nine Chadian soldiers were killed in the battle to root out the Boko Haram fighters from Gamboru Ngala on Tuesday, the sect also lost about 200 soldiers.

Reports on Chadian state television confirmed that the soldiers killed 200 Boko Haram fighters and lost nine troops in the encounters in the two border communities north of Maiduguri.

The Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, declined to comment on the casualties suffered by the Chadian forces in the reported offensive against the insurgents at Gamboru Ngala.

Olukolade also declined comments on the number of troops contributed by other countries in the joint operation.

However, Olukolade confirmed that a total of 2,500 Chadian soldiers were deployed for the joint operation.

He said that the 2,500 soldiers comprised those that would watch over the Chadian end of the border and those that would be involved in the missions.

He said, “I cannot speak on the casualties being claimed. However, as to the figure, 2,500 represents the total number the Chadian Forces are expected to deploy.

“These include those who will keep watch at their own country’s side of the border as well as those who will be involved in the joint patrols and operations and campaigns,” he said in a text message to our correspondent.

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Nigeria, Chad, others launch joint operation against Boko Haram

Chadian troops arrives Nigeria to battle Boko Haram

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ABUJA—Chad, yesterday, sent ground troops into Nigeria for the first time, to fight Boko Haram in a sign of increased regional pressure on the Islamist rebels after weeks of surging violence.

The Chadian offensive on the town of Gamboru, which borders Cameroon, follows days of clashes with the Islamists who control vast swathes of the North East.

The action comes after the African Union last week backed a regional five-nation, 7,500-strong force to take on the extremists amid growing fears about their threat to regional security.

The nation has drawn fierce criticism for failing to hold back the insurgents, who have stepped up their campaign of terror in the run-up to presidential and parliamentary elections on February 14.

Defence spokesman Chris Olukolade denied that the presence of foreign troops on Nigerian soil compromised the country’s sovereignty.

“Nigeria’s territorial integrity remains intact,” he said, claiming national forces had “planned and are driving the present onslaught against terrorists from all fronts in Nigeria, not the Chadian forces”.

Chad’s ground intervention reflects the growing nervousness among the nation’s neighbours over the prospect of Boko Haram achieving its aim of carving out an Islamic caliphate on their borders.

The rebels have tried, in vain, to capture Maiduguri twice in the past week.

After days of airstrikes by Chadian war planes on Gamboru, Chadian armoured vehicles Tuesday rolled into the town across a bridge from the Cameroonian town of Fotokol, followed by a contingent of around 2,000 troops.

No shots were fired as they crossed the frontier after another barrage of air strikes lasting about an hour, an AFP correspondent in Fotokol witnessed.

Chadian forces have also taken up position close to Boko Haram strongholds along Nigeria’s border with Niger.

 

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Chadian troops arrives Nigeria to battle Boko Haram

Chad/Nigeria Reclaims Borno Town From Boko Haram

Malumfatori, the headquarters of Abadam local government of Borno State earlier seized by Boko Haram terrorists, was yesterday reclaimed by the Chadian military, witnesses and security sources said.

Nigeria soldiers fighting Boko Haram

The Chadian military yesterday demonstrated rare gallantry when its air force launched a major aerial campaign over Malumfatori, dropping several bombs in major spots occupied by the insurgents.

A resident of a village near Malumfatori, Abari Modu, said thick smoke bellowed over the deserted border and Boko Haram terrorists ran helter skelter as the Chadian fighter plane continued bombarding and decimating them.

“The fighter jet started shelling and bombarding the insurgents who were lodged mostly inside the local government secretariat and district head’s palace,” said Modu who spoke on phone from a village in Chad.

He added that many members of Boko Haram died as the Chadian soldiers ensured that they did not escape through the bushes.

“Honestly, the operation was well-coordinated because the soldiers on the ground gave the fighter jet a chance to bombard while they tackled the terrorists that were fleeing,” he said.

A Nigerian soldier in Maiduguri confirmed the incident to LEADERSHIP Friday.

“Many buildings, including the local government secretariat and district head’s palace in Malumfatori were bombed by the Chadian air force jet,” said the soldier who spoke under strict condition of anonymity.

“The Chadian forces may be proactively reacting to the recent threat issued to their government by the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, who warned the country alongside the government of Niger and Cameroon that he may soon be taking attacks to them if they don’t stay off his business in Nigeria. The forces had the backing of their government; that was why they took the fight up to them, even in the shores of Nigeria,” he added.

Malumfatori town and environs came under the conquest of the Boko Haram terrorists in the last week of October last year when they sent many residents fleeing across the Chadian borders.

 

Chad/Nigeria Reclaims Borno Town From Boko Haram

BAGA: Chad, Nigeria set for final attack on Boko Haram

By Kingsley Omonobi

Chad, Cameroun, Niger and Nigeria could be attacking Boko Haram the same time in a renewed effort to flush out the insurgents.

Soldiers chasing Boko Haram

Saturday Vanguard gathered that many of the newly acquired weaponry included tanks, long range and more sophisticated rifles, night vision equipment both for artillery and tanks usage as well as aircraft. All will be employed in the attack on Boko Haram. .

The decision to launch the attack, it was learnt, followed concerns over increasing manoeuvres of the terrorists laying claim to Nigeria’s territories which international media and satellite images currently say is as large as present-day Belgium.

The Nigerian military has, therefore, finalised plans to conduct a ‘once and for all comprehensive operation’ towards the elimination of Boko Haram terrorists in the parts of North East to the boarders of neighbouring countries.

Competent sources disclosed that political authorities were alarmed by the latest video from the terror group which claimed that it had enough weapons to take on Nigeria and its neighbours. Consequently, Nigerian and Chad have endorsed a plan to attack Boko Haram.

About two battalions from the Chadian armed forces will launch their own attack from the Chadian side, it was gathered. And as the terrorists flee from the Nigerian onslaught, they are expected to meet their Waterloo in the hands of the Chadians.

Meanwhile, the Cameroon and Niger armed forces who have been put on the alert, will strike down the terrorists who may want to escape through Gamboru Ngala and such border towns.

It should be recalled that hundreds of Boko Haram terrorists attacked and seized part of Baga, headquarters of the Multi-national Joint Task Force (MNJTF) on January 3, during which hundreds were feared killed, with the international community tagging the atrocities committed as crime against humanity.

The deployment for the mission is expected to facilitate the elimination of safe havens and escape routes of terrorists in or out of Nigeria, a source confided.

Innocent citizens living in the areas where the terrorists presently operate, Saturday Vanguard was reliably informed, are expected to temporarily vacate the area.

Contacted for confirmation, the Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade simply declared that the military would not relent in its efforts to restore peace to every part of the country as quickly as possible.

He however admitted that all the countries bordering Nigeria are willing to complement its efforts as terrorism has remained a menace and threat to all in the region.

 

BAGA: Chad, Nigeria set for final attack on Boko Haram

Chad deploys soldiers to Cameroon to fight Boko Haram

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N’Djamena (AFP) – Dozens of Chadian tanks headed out of the capital Friday south towards Cameroon to help fight Nigeria’s dreaded Boko Haram insurgents.

President Jonathan, Ali Modu Sheriff & President Deby of Chad on Monday in Ndjamena

The convoy seen by an AFP journalist roared out of the city after Chad’s parliament voted to send armed forces to Cameroon and Nigeria to fight against the Islamists.

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya had announced Thursday that Chad President Idriss Deby had decided to send “a substantial contingent” of troops to help Cameroonian armed forces who have faced repeated attcks from Boko Haram.

A source close to the army said the force had begun preparing for departure on Thursday.

Earlier on Friday, Chad’s parliament in N’Djamena voted 150 to 0 to send an unspecified number of “Chadian armed troops and security forces to assist Cameroonian and Nigerian soldiers waging war against the terrorists in Cameroon and Nigeria”.

Boko Haram is fighting to create a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria along the border with Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

Cameroon has been critical of the passivity of the Nigerian authorities and the international community in the face of Boko Haram aggression.

Since Boko Haram’s insurgency began, around 135,000 people have fled the restive northeast of Nigeria country and at least 850,000 have been displaced inside the region.

So far Chad has been spared, but only a narrow strip of land separate it from the Islamists’ headquarters in the Nigerian state of Borno.

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Chad deploys soldiers to Cameroon to fight Boko Haram