Deadliest recorded Islamic State attack in Chad indicates escalation in militancy in Lake Chad area outside rainy season

At least 92 Chadian soldiers and three civilians, including a village chief, were killed and 47 others were wounded during an overnight assault by the Islamic State’s Wilayat Gharb Afriqiyya on a military camp on the Boma peninsula on Lake Chad in Chad’s Lac province on 23 March. It is the deadliest attack ever recorded by Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre (JTIC) in the country. AFP, citing military officials, reported that the attack had lasted at least seven hours, with militants also targeting reinforcements as they responded to the assault. The militants had also set fire to 24 army vehicles, including armoured vehicles, before stealing an unspecified number of weapons and fleeing on speedboats through Lake Chad’s waterways. Media reports did not specify what weapons were used by the militants, or how many of them were killed during the assault. The dissident faction of Wilayat Gharb Afriqiyya faction, led by Abubakar Shekau, has claimed responsibility for the attack, providing photographic evidence of its involvement.

Deadliest regional attack

Previously, Jane’s