Boko Haram attack on Chad army base kills at least 24: military, local officials

An overnight attack by suspected Boko Haram jihadists on a Chadian military base has killed at least 24 people, a military official and regional administrator told AFP on Tuesday.

The Barka Tolorom base is on the shores of Lake Chad, which straddles Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria and whose islands provide a refuge for jihadists from Boko Haram and other radical Islamist groups.

The raid late on Monday "left 25 dead and 46 wounded on the Chadian army side", the army source told AFP.

The administrative official gave a toll of "24 dead and several wounded".

Both attributed the attack to Boko Haram, with the administrator insisting that "the situation is under control".

"Once again, the nebulous Boko Haram terrorist group carried out a cowardly attack last night on our military base at Barka Tolorom," Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said on Tuesday in a Facebook post.

"We will continue the fight with renewed determination until this threat is completely eradicated," he pledged, offering his condolences to the bereaved families.

Soldiers have come under increasing fire from Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region, with an October 2024 attack leaving some 40 dead in the Chadian army's ranks.

Recent months have also seen a surge in attacks by the group's JAS faction, including kidnappings and attacks on advanced army positions, especially on the islands and along Niger's portion of the lake's shores.

In response to the October 2024 attack, Deby launched a counter-offensive which he vowed to "personally" lead on the ground for two weeks.

After that offensive ended in February 2025, the army insisted that Boko Haram had "no more sanctuary on Chadian territory".

Lake Chad's islands and marshes also serve as a haven for Boko Haram's rival splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).