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Chadian soldiers gather near the Nigerian town of Gambaru
Chadian soldiers gather to fight Boko Haram militants near the Nigerian town of Gambaru. Photograph: AFP/Getty
Chadian soldiers gather to fight Boko Haram militants near the Nigerian town of Gambaru. Photograph: AFP/Getty

Chad troops ‘kill scores of Boko Haram militants’ in Nigeria

This article is more than 9 years old
Army says it also destroyed vehicles equipped with heavy weapons as regional forces continue crackdown on extremist group

More than 200 Boko Haram militants have been killed by Chadian troops in the Nigerian towns of Gambaru and Ngala, according to army officials.

Soldiers also destroyed more than a dozen vehicles equipped with heavy weapons during the battle on Tuesday, as well as 100 motorbikes used by the militants, the army high command said. There was no independent confirmation of its claim.

Boko Haram fighters also attacked the town of Fotokol in Cameroon on Wednesday but were repelled, a military source said.

Chad has deployed 2,500 troops as part of a regional crackdown on the militant group, which has been fighting for five years to create an Islamist emirate in northern Nigeria. An estimated 10,000 people died in the region last year.

Cameroon’s information minister, Issa Tchiroma, said the fighting in Fotokol had lasted several hours. “The insurgents have been driven out. They tried to surprise us because the Chadian troops who were in Fotokol had crossed over to Nigeria,” he said.

The attack was the latest cross-border incursion by Boko Haram, which operates near Nigeria’s borders with Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

More on this story

More on this story

  • Boko Haram beheadings footage echoes Isis video techniques

  • Nigeria to postpone elections to fight Boko Haram

  • Nigerian election: Muhammadu Buhari pledges to defeat Boko Haram

  • Nigerian military announces recapture of Baga from Boko Haram

  • Chibok girls who escaped Boko Haram defy militants by returning to school

  • Top security adviser calls soldiers cowards after Boko Haram attacks

  • Deadly Boko Haram raids destroy two Nigerian villages

  • Boko Haram attacks Gombe in Nigeria and calls for election boycott

  • Nigeria’s prospects for defeating Boko Haram look bleak

  • Boko Haram militants launch first fatal attack in Chad

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