Regional forces hammer Lake Chad basin Jihadists

NIAMEY, Niger

The vast basin has become the epicentre of violence led by Nigeria's Boko Haram and its rival branch Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

“The aim of this special operation was to neutralize the ISWAP bases in the Matari forest (of Nigeria) from where every year attacks are led” on three towns with army outposts in Niger, the multinational force said.

The bombardment took place late last week after observing “about 50 terrorists” in the region on Friday and Saturday, a statement said, adding that much of the operation was carried out by troops from Niger “with the support of a drone from American partners.”

The multinational force said it suffered no losses but said 36 suspected terrorists were captured and an encampment and base camp were “destroyed.”

“A large number of these criminals on the run ... were intercepted,” the statement said.

The three towns of Maine Soroa, Chetinari and Chetimari Wangou, located in the Diffa region of southeastern Niger have suffered repeated jihadist attacks since 2015.

Maine Soroa, located some forty-five miles from Diffa, had been spared until 2019 when a violent attack saw international NGO, Doctors without Borders (MSF) pull out after suspected jihadists raided its offices there.

The military post at Chetimari Wangou, some 25 kilometers from Diffa, has been attacked by ISWAP on several occasions.

In June last year, the multinational force announced it had killed more than 800 ISWAP fighters over two months in the vast marshy Lake Chad area, bordering the four nations.

Nigerian security forces are battling Boko Haram and ISWAP jihadists in the country's northeast, where the conflict has killed 40,000 people and displaced 2.2 million more.

The four nations set up the 8,500-strong multinational force in 2015 to tackle the armed groups.

Last week, states around Lake Chad and international donors pledged more than $500 million at a conference in Niamey, the Nigerien capital to help the millions of civilians threatened by jihadist insurgents and climate change in the region.