Boko Haram attack kills 40 troops from Chad army near Nigeria, sparking hunt for militants

An attack by jihadist group Boko Haram killed around 40 Chadian troops overnight near the Nigerian border, prompting an army operation to hunt down the militants, the government and local sources said on Monday.

Members of Boko Haram targeted a garrison housing more than 200 Chadian soldiers late on Sunday in the Lake Chad region, an area plagued by various armed groups, local sources said.

The presidency said in a statement that the attack struck near Ngouboua in the west of the country, “tragically leaving about 40 people dead”.

Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno visited the scene early on Monday and launched an operation “to go after the attackers and track them down in their furthest hideouts”, the statement added.

The presidency blamed Sunday’s attack on Boko Haram in a second statement issued later on Monday.