N'Djamena (AFP) - A clash
between Chad's army and Boko Haram on a Lake Chad island has killed four
soldiers and 33 Islamists, a military spokesman said Friday.
"Boko
Haram elements on Wednesday attacked our forces in Choua," military
spokesman Colonel Azem Bermandoa Agouna told AFP, referring to an island
on the lake in Chadian territory.
"The
Chadian army violently repelled the attack. We killed 33 Boko Haram
members and recovered several light arms and anti-tank grenades. We
regret the loss of four soldiers and also recorded four wounded," Agouna
said.
He added that Chadian
military planes had been targeting Boko Haram positions on the lake
since Thursday and had destroyed food, fuel and munitions belonging to
the insurgents.
Since January, Chad has been part of a regional
military operation aiming to oust the Islamist group from swathes of
territory which it had seized in northeast Nigeria.
Heavy clashes
have taken place in recent months on and around Lake Chad, which is the
meeting point for the borders of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
In addition to the fighting in Nigeria, Boko Haram has launched repeated attacks in Niger and Chad.
Chadian
soldiers have also fought the militants in Cameroon's northern reaches,
which has suffered from ongoing Boko Haram attacks in the last two
years.
Sources in Chad's
military say about 5,000 of its soldiers are taking part in the fight
against Boko Haram. In April Chad announced that 71 of its troops had
been killed in operations against the Islamists.
Source:
Yahoo News
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