General

10 Chadian soldiers fall to Boko Haram

March 9, 2015 9:21 pm

Chadian soldiers ride atop a pickup truck during Flintlock 2015, an American-led military exercise, in Mao, February 23, 2015. The U.S. military will share communications equipment and intelligence with African allies to assist them in the fight against Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, the commander of U.S. Special Forces operations in Africa said. Reuters/Emmanuel Braun

Twenty Chadian soldiers died while multinational troops displaced Boko Haram from Malam Fatouri and Damasak town in Borno state Nigeria, killing 300 militants.

According to Reuters, an additional 30 Nigerian and Chadian soldiers were wounded in clashes over the two towns just a day after thousands of troops crossed the border to retake areas held by the Islamist sect.

Though no official statements have been made by the Chadian army, a Chadian officer, who pleaded anonymity, said about 10 Chadian soldiers were killed and 20 wounded in fighting to liberate the towns.

“We have kicked the enemy out of these areas and they are now under our control,” a Niger military source was quoted as saying.

The Nigerien military source further said about 300 Boko Haram militants had been killed.

There has been no official confirmation of the toll and it was not possible to verify the figure as at the filing of this report, however, many militants in that range were said to have been killed.

In November 2014, Damasak, the town furthest into Nigeria, was captured by the sect, but has now been recovered by the joint force.

Damasak is 10 km south of the Niger border, where Nigerien and Chadian troops have been massing in recent weeks ahead of the offensive.

It is expected that the regional force comprising Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin would unleash an attack at Boko Haram’s most potent base in Gwoza in the days to come.

The wave of insurgency, which started fully in 2009, is said to have claimed over 13,000 lives in a space of six years.

On Saturday, the sect pledged allegiance to Islamic State (ISIS), another notorious Islamist terror group operating in Syria, Iraq and Libya.