At least 40 soldiers are killed in an attack on a military base, Chad’s president says

By Mark Banchereau

Unidentified assailants killed at least 40 soldiers during an overnight attack on a military base in the country’s west, Chad’s presidency said Monday.

President Mahamat Deby Itno visited the base in Barkaram, an island in Chad’s Lake region, early morning and announced the launch of a military operation to track the assailants, according to a statement from the presidency.

Chad has long battled with an insurgency in the country’s west, near the border with Nigeria.

It was not immediately known who was behind the latest attack, but previous attacks in the region have been blamed by the government on the Boko Haram militant group.

In March, an attack the government blamed on Boko Haram killed seven soldiers, reviving fears of violence in the Lake Chad area, after a period of peace following a successful operation launched in 2020 by the Chadian army to destroy the extremist group’s bases there. Schools, mosques