Alwaght- Boko Haram militants have killed at least 92 Chadian soldiers in a seven-hour attack on an army base on Monday.
The deadly attack took place in Boma, in western Lac Province, Near Nigeria's Border.
“We lost 92 of our soldiers, non-commissioned officers and officers,” Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno said on Tuesday, after visiting the site of the attack.
“It’s the first time we have lost so many men,” he said.
An unnamed soldier said the Boko Haram militants destroyed 24 military vehicles, including armored vehicles, and carried off captured weapons in speedboats.
“The enemy has hit at our defenses hard in this zone,” a senior officer said.
Boko Haram militants hailing from northeast Nigeria have been stepping up their attacks on the Lake Chad region in recent months.
In 2015, countries in the region formed the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to fight the militants. The MNJTF is a joint force consisting of soldiers from Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Chad, and Benin. It is tasked with ending the Boko Haram militancy in the Lake Chad region.
Boko Haram started its campaign of militancy in Nigeria in 2009 with the aim of toppling the central government.
In 2016, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIS.
Boko Haram’s campaign of militancy in Nigeria has killed more than 30,000 people and displaced about 2.5 million since 2009.
