At least 20 killed in jihadist attack on Lake Chad Island

O attack occurred early today on an island near the village of Ngoubua, in the Chadian province of Lake Chad, where attackers, who operated from canoes, attacked fishermen who had gone fishing.

“ The attackers killed four women and seven men before stealing their fish,” Colonel Moussa Djibrine, commander of operations in Lake Chad Province, told EFE, adding that “the army, alerted, quickly launched a persecution operation and managed to neutralize nine of the terrorists involved in the attack.”.

For some time now the Lake Chad region has been subject to jihadist attacks, with the civilian population moving to the camps, markets or to fishing near the lake suffering frequent attacks, despite the presence of security forces in the area.

Situated on the borders of Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Nigeria, the lake is an extension of water with islets that serve as a hiding place for jihadist groups like Boko Haram.

The jihadists usually travel in motorized vehicles or canoes, allowing them to strike quickly — often through night raids or at dawn — and withdraw before the arrival of security forces.

Boko Haram and the local branch of the Islamic State will have killed more than 35,000 people and caused some 2.7 million internally displaced people, especially in Nigeria, but also in neighbouring countries such as Chad, Cameroon and Niger, according to the United Nations.