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Chad’s military airstrike leaves scores of fishermen dead in Nigeria
Chad’s military has been accused of killing “scores” of fishermen in Nigeria as part of an operation against jihadists, following a recent Boko Haram attack that resulted in 40 deaths at a military base in Chad, according to local fishermen and anti-jihadist militia sources who spoke with AFP on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the Chadian army conducted an airstrike on Tilma Island, situated in the Kukawa district on Nigeria’s side of Lake Chad, while fishermen were engaged in their daily activities. Sources indicated that multiple fishermen lost their lives during the attack.
“There was an attack on fishermen by a (fighter) jet belonging to the Chadian military in Tilma island which killed scores of fishermen,” stated Babakura Kolo, a leader of an anti-jihadist militia. “The jet mistook the fishermen for Boko Haram terrorists who attacked a military base inside Chad on Sunday,” Kolo added.
A Chadian general staff officer, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed to AFP that airstrikes “were carried out on islands located on the borders of Nigeria and Niger.”
“Boko Haram fighters often blend in with the fishermen and farmers whenever they commit their crimes. It is therefore difficult to distinguish between the population and the terrorists,” the officer explained.
The Boko Haram raid on Sunday not only claimed around 40 lives but also left dozens injured, with the group taking responsibility for the attack in a propaganda video released on Monday. Following this incident, Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby vowed to “pursue and track down the attackers to their last entrenchment,” according to a statement from the military.
The majority of the fishermen caught in the aerial assault were reportedly from the towns of Baga, Doron-Baga, and Duguri along the shores of Lake Chad, according to another anti-jihadist militia member, Ibrahim Liman.
“The fighter jet encircled Tilma before beginning to drop bombs while people ran in all directions for cover,” recalled fisherman Sallau Arzika, who managed to escape the attack and return to the garrison town of Monguno. “A large number of fishermen were killed. No one can give an exact number because bodies are still scattered across Tilma,” he noted, adding that some of the deceased and injured were transported to a military base in Mile 4 near Baga.
Fisherman Labo Sani from Doron-Baga reported that two of his friends were killed in the airstrike, while another was critically injured. “We were carrying out our fishing and it never crossed our mind that we would be attacked and killed by a fighter jet,” Sani lamented.
Chad’s military offensive, launched on Monday and dubbed Operation Haskanite, aims “not only to secure our peaceful population” but also to “hunt down, root out, and obliterate the nuisance capability of Boko Haram and its affiliates,” interim Prime Minister Abderahim Bireme Hamid stated during a press briefing in N’Djamena.
The operation is being “personally” overseen by President Deby, with the presidency announcing on social media that he is “holding multiple meetings with troops, instructing and directing them” to leave Boko Haram “no chance.”
In a call for greater international support for counter-terrorism initiatives in the region, Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah made a statement on Wednesday. The Lake Chad region, characterized by its vast waters and swamps, serves as a hiding place for jihadist factions, including Boko Haram and its offshoot, the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP), which routinely target the military and local civilians.
Since its insurgency began in Nigeria in 2009, Boko Haram has led to over 40,000 deaths and displaced two million people, with its influence spreading to neighboring countries.