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People cross a creek in N'Bougoua on
the edge of Lake Chad on April 6, 2015 ©Philippe Desmazes (AFP)
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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 a Lake Chad island 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.
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.
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