At Least 40 Soldiers Killed in Attack on Chad Military Base

At least 40 soldiers were killed this week during an attack at a military base in the African country of Chad.

On Monday, Chad’s presidency announced the attack against the 40 soldiers, noting that it was carried out by unidentified assailants.

Chad’s President Mahamat Deby Itno visited the Barkaram military base, located on an island in the Lake Chad region, early Monday. According to a statement from the presidency, Deby used the visit to launch a new military campaign aimed at tracking those responsible for recent attacks.

Possible Attackers

Chad has faced a persistent insurgency in its western region near the Nigerian border, where militant groups have exploited the area’s instability for years.

While the perpetrators of the latest attack remain unidentified, the Chadian government has previously attributed similar violence in the region to Boko Haram, the Nigeria-based extremist group known for cross-border raids.

Boko Haram

Boko Haram was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Department of State in 2013. Boko Haram, which began its insurgency over a decade ago in opposition to Western-style education, aims to enforce strict Islamic law across northeastern Nigeria. The group’s campaign of violence has since expanded beyond Nigeria, destabilizing neighboring countries like Cameroon, Niger, and Chad.

“Boko Haram’s violence—including the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls in Borno State, Nigeria, in April 2014—brought international condemnation and in February 2015 provoked a large regional CT offensive against the group that displaced it from the majority of its strongholds in Nigeria. Nonetheless, Boko Haram remains resilient, conducting attacks in neighboring Cameroon, Chad, Niger, as well as Nigeria, emphasizing the threat it poses to Western and regional interests,” the Director of National Intelligence Office says.

In March, an attack attributed to Boko Haram killed seven soldiers, reigniting concerns about renewed violence in the Lake Chad region. The incident disrupted a period of relative calm following a 2020 military campaign by the Chadian army that dismantled the group’s local strongholds. In the wake of that operation, schools, mosques and churches had reopened, and humanitarian organizations resumed activities in the area.

Last month, over 100 villagers were killed in Nigeria in attack believed to be carried out by Boko Haram militants. Local media reported that the militants claimed responsibility for the attack, describing it as retaliation for villagers providing information to security forces that led to the deaths of several Boko Haram members.

Chad Turmoil

Chad, home to nearly 18 million people, has been grappling with political instability surrounding a contentious presidential election that secured Deby Itno’s victory. Deby had served as interim leader during the military-led transition following the death of his father, longtime ruler Idriss Deby, in 2021.

This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.