Chad’s military has been accused of killing scores of Nigerian fishermen in an airstrike targeting suspected militants, following a recent Boko Haram attack that killed 40 soldiers in Chad. Witnesses reported that the airstrike struck Tilma Island in Nigeria’s Kukawa district on Wednesday as fishermen were working. Babakura Kolo, a local militia leader, told AFP that Chad’s fighter jet mistook the fishermen for Boko Haram terrorists.
A senior Chadian officer, speaking anonymously, confirmed the strikes near Nigeria’s border, noting that insurgents often hide among civilians. President Mahamat Idriss Deby visited the site of the Boko Haram attack on a Chadian base, vowing to track down the attackers.
Most of the fishermen killed were from Nigerian towns along Lake Chad’s shores, with survivors describing a chaotic scene as the jet “encircled Tilma” before dropping bombs. Bodies were taken to a military base near Baga, while the death toll remains unclear.
Chad’s counter-terrorism campaign, Operation Haskanite, launched Monday to dismantle Boko Haram’s presence in the Lake Chad region, is being personally overseen by Deby. The Chadian government has called for increased international support in counter-terrorism efforts in the region’s longstanding security challenges.
The Lake Chad basin remains a stronghold for militant groups, with Boko Haram’s insurgency—now in its fourteenth year—having claimed over 40,000 lives and displaced millions across the region.