President of Chad reports that an attack on a military facility killed over 40 people

The president of Chad said Monday that an attack on a military installation in the Lake region of the central African nation over the weekend claimed the lives of about 40 troops.

According to a statement from the presidency, President Mahamat Idriss Deby visited the region on Monday to begin an effort to find the attackers.

In a second statement later on Monday, the president attributed Sunday’s attack to Boko Haram. Insurgencies such as Islamic State in West Africa and Boko Haram, which began in northeast Nigeria in 2009 and expanded to the west of Chad, have assaulted the Lake Chad area on many occasions.

The organization did not immediately claim credit.
For French and American soldiers fighting jihadists in the Sahel, which has turned into a hotbed of international terrorism and is being targeted by groups loyal to al Qaeda and Islamic State, Chad is a crucial ally.

In recent years, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso have shifted their military activities from the United States and France to Russia.