Chad sends 2,000 forces to Niger to fight Boko Haram
Chad has sent some 2,000 troops to neighboring Niger to help the fight against Boko Haram following last week’s terrorist attacks by the Takfiri militants in the Nigerien town of Bosso.
The "heavily armed" soldiers will "search everywhere for Boko Haram," a military source said Wednesday.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Tuesday that some 50,000 people have fled the town of Bosso in Niger’s troubled Diffa region near the Nigerian border following deadly attacks by Boko Haram terrorists.
Boko Haram militants first took the town of Bosso on Friday in an attack, during which 26 soldiers, including two from Nigeria, were killed. A total of 55 militants from the Nigeria-based militant group were also killed during the fierce fighting.
The terrorists reportedly torched military barracks, police facilities and looted shops during the terror campaign in the town. The ambush and looting came as Niger's army was preparing to attack Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region, which straddles Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Nigerien troops later retook Bosso on Saturday, but the militants once again took over the town on Sunday night.
The mayor of Bosso, Mamadou Bako, and a military source confirmed the takeover on Monday, but the Nigerien government denied it.
Regional countries have created a joint military force that plays a key role in helping Nigeria fight the terrorist group. Back in February, the four littoral nations of Lake Chad launched a military campaign, together with a contingent from Benin, to confront the threat from Boko Haram militants in the region.
The Boko Haram terrorist group, which has pledged allegiance to the Daesh Takfiri militant group, has killed thousands of people, mostly civilians, since it launched its terrorist activities in Nigeria in 2009.
The Takfiri militant group has intensified its campaign of terror since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in the African country in May 2015.
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