Chad Army kills Boko Haram jihadists in air strikes

Chad President, Mahamat Idriss Deby says his country’s military killed many Boko Haram jihadists and wounded others in air strikes.

Deby made this disclosure while fielding questions from newsmen on Thursday in the Lake Chad region, without giving specific numbers.

He said he had personally launched the counter-attack against Boko Haram, which targeted the Chadian army in an attack last month in the western region, close to the border with Nigeria.

According to him, the Chad government had vowed to obliterate Boko Haram when launching its operation in late October after the jihadists killed around 40 people and wounded dozens more in a raid on a military garrison.

“We carried out several air strikes on enemy positions that resulted in many dead and wounded,” he said.

Interim Prime Minister, Abderahim Bireme Hamid last week told reporters that the operation was aimed not only to secure their peaceful population but also to hunt down, root out and obliterate the capability of Boko Haram and its affiliates to cause harm.

It was gathered that the Lake Chad region’s countless islets serve as hideouts for jihadist groups, such as Boko Haram and its offshoot Islamic State in West Africa, ISWAP, who carry out regular attacks on the country’s army and civilians.