Chad bombs Boko Haram in Nigeria after suicide attack on N’djamena

CHAD’S military has carried out airstrikes in neighbouring Nigeria on suspected positions of militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

The strikes were in response to the “cowardly and barbaric” bombing of Chad’s capital, N’djamena, on Monday, it added in a statement.

The group suffered heavy casualties and six of its bases were destroyed, the military said.

Chad has been helping Nigeria fight Boko Haram in recent months and has carried out airstrikes in Nigeria before, when it entered the conflict in January.

However, the strikes are the first since Monday’s twin blasts which killed more than 20 peoed, Police in front of their headquarters in N’djamena ple and wounded more than 100. The attacks on the police headquarters and a police academy in N’djamena were the first in the city, blamed on Boko Haram – this was the first suicide attack in N’djamena

The group has not comment- but it had previously vowed to attack Chad because of its military support for Nigeria.

Chad will continue its “merciless” pursuit of the militants “so that no drop of Chadian blood spilt goes unpunished,” the military said.

It did not mention where in Nigeria the raids took place.

Chad is to host a new regional force to tackle Boko Haram as it believes the group threatens the stability of the entire region.

Boko Haram is allied with Islamic State (IS), which is fighting for a global caliphate and launched its insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria’s Borno state in 2009.

The insurgency then spread to other parts of Nigeria, and neighbouring countries.