At least 40 soldiers died in an attack on a military base, says the president of Chad

DAKAR, Senegal — Chad’s president said that at least 40 soldiers were killed by unidentified attackers during a Sunday night attack on a military base in the west of the country.

President Mahamat Deby Itno visited the base early Monday morning and announced the launch of a military operation to track down the attackers.

Chad has long been fighting an insurgency in the west of the country, near the border with Nigeria. Nine people died in June and more than 40 were injured in a fire explosion at a military ammunition depot in the capital, N’Djamena.

In March, there was an attack blamed on the government Boko Haram killed seven soldiersreviving fear of post-peace violence in the Lake Chad region following a successful operation launched in 2020 by the Chadian army to destroy the extremist group’s bases there. Schools, mosques and churches reopened, and humanitarian organizations returned.

Boko Haram, which began an insurgency against Western education more than a decade ago, is seeking to establish Islamic law in northeastern Nigeria. The insurgency spread to West Africa’s neighbors, including Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

Chad, a country of almost 18 million people, has been reeling before and after political turmoil controversial presidential elections which resulted in Deby Itno winning. He led the country as interim president during the military rule that followed his father’s death in 2021.