Chadian army announces cessation of anti-Takfiri operations abroad

SANAA, April 11 (YPA) – Chadian President Idriss Deby announced during a report broadcast on state television on Friday that his country’s army, which is involved in the war against Takfiri groups in the African coast and around Lake Chad, will stop participating in military operations outside the country’s borders.
“Our soldiers are dying for Lake Chad and the Sahel, as of today, no Chadian soldier will participate in a military operation outside Chad,” Deby said, according to government television.

The President’s statement came from Bagasoula, where he established ten days ago a command center for the “Puma Rage” operation against Takfiri Boko Haram in Lake Chad.

Chadian army deployed on March 31, and announced on Wednesday that it had ended the operation that led to the expulsion of the Takfirists from the country’s territory, and said that it had arrived in the neighboring lands of Niger and Nigeria.

The Chadian army announced the killing of one thousand takfiri, in return for the loss of 52 elements.

President Idriss Deby launched the operation in response to the bloody attack against the Chadian army on March 23 in the Puma peninsula.

About 100 soldiers were killed in the attack within 24 hours, which represents the largest loss in the history of the Chadian army.

On Thursday, Deby informed Niger and Chad that his forces would leave the sites from which the Takfirists were expelled on April 22nd, whether or not the forces of the two countries were stationed.

The Chadian army, which is considered one of the most effective armies in the region, along with the joint force formed in 2015, is active with the other three lakeside countries (Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger).

The Chadian army is also working within the Alliance of the Five Sahel States against the Takfiri groups targeting Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, and is accordingly considered an important ally of the French Barkhan operation in the region.