No fewer than 10 Chadian soldiers and 300 Boko Haram fighters are believed to have been killed since troops from Chad and Niger crossed into Nigeria on Sunday in a major cross-border offensive against the sect, a Chadian officer said yesterday.
The officer, who asked not to be named, also confirmed reports from Niger sources that the joint offensive had freed the border town of Malam Fatouri and Damasak, about 10 km further to the south, which had been previously held by Boko Haram.
About 30 Nigerien and Chadian soldiers were injured in the battle, it was learnt.
“We have kicked the enemy out of these areas and they are now under our control,” one of the military sources said.
Damasak is the town south of Niger border, where Niger and Chadian troops have been massing in recent weeks ahead of the offensive.
The source said about 300 Boko Haram militants had been killed in fighting. There was no official confirmation of the toll and it was not possible to verify the figure.
“We had permission from Nigeria for this action,” the source said. There was no immediate comment from Nigeria, which has launched its own offensive against the militants, whose gains forced Nigeria to delay elections that were due in February.
Boko Haram’s six-year insurgency, which aims to carve out a caliphate in Nigeria’s northeast, has killed thousands. The group has pledged allegiance to Islamic State (ISIS), which rules a self-declared caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, according to an audio clip posted online on Saturday.
Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Benin have this year mobilised forces to help Nigeria defeat the group after it seized swathes of territory and mounted cross-border attacks.
Nigeria and its neighbours have been working to pull together plans and rules of engagement for a regional force of 8,700 troops but cooperation between the region’s armies has been strained at times.
