Source: Wikiwand /  The Eland Mk7 armoured car is part of military operations of north-central African nation Chad.

By Gary Raynaldo           DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Soldiers from north-central African nation Chad  will no longer participate in military operations against Jihadist group Boko Haram outside the country’s borders in the strife-ridden Sahel and Lake Chad regions.  Chad President  Idriss Deby made the announcement following  a report that 1,000 Boko Haram fighters were killed during a counter-offensive by Chad’s army on 31 March. Dozens of Chadian soldiers were also killed. 

“Our troops have died for Lake Chad and the Sahel. From today, no Chadian soldiers will take part in a military mission outside Chad.”

-Chad President Deby  told national TV on April 9, 2020. 

 President of the Republic of Chad Idriss Deby Itno, at a U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit dinner at the White House, Aug. 5, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)

 About 52 Chadian soldiers were also killed during the counter-offensive launched after at least 92 Chadian troops were killed in a Boko Haram raid on a base at Bohoma on March 23, 2020, the biggest one-day military loss in the country’s history. Chadian troops are also part of the  G5 Sahel force, comprising soldiers from Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, as well as fighting armed groups in the Sahel.

Boko Haram has killed tens of thousands during its 10-year insurgency in northern Nigeria.  According to the United Nations, 36,000 people have been killed and close to 2 million have been displaced in northeastern Nigeria since Boko Haram began its insurgency in 2009.  President Deby’s decision to pull his troops out of the military operations will most definitely have an impact on international efforts to defeat Islamist militants in the conflict-hit Sahel and Lake Chad region.   Last week, about 25 soldiers were killed  in an apparent “terrorist” attack on  a Malian Armed forces (FAMa) base in Bamba, northern Mali.   Terror and violent attacks linked to militant Islamic groups in the Africa SAHEL  region have increased dramatically during the past few years.  The main African countries on the front lines in the battle against terrorism in the dangerous Sahel region are Mauritania, Niger, Mali, Chad, and Burkina Faso.  Last month, at least 29 soldiers  were killed in an attack  an army post in northeast Mali, according to the armed forces. The attack took place in the town of Tarkint, north of the city of Gao.  It was the deadliest attack since last November 2019  when at least 54 soldiers  were in an attack  on an army base in northern Mali.