regional coalition forces boko haram into retreat across lake Chad
A coordinated military campaign involving Chad, Nigeria and Niger has pushed fighters from the Boko Haram extremist group into disarray along the Lake Chad basin. Local witnesses and intelligence sources report that sustained airstrikes and ground operations have forced the jihadists to abandon their strongholds on remote islands shared by the three nations.
The offensive, which began last Friday, targeted key islands in the marshy expanse of Lake Chad—a region spanning Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad that has served as a critical haven for Boko Haram since 2009. The area is also home to the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP), which split from Boko Haram in 2016. Reports indicate that Nigerian fishermen working in Boko Haram-controlled zones were caught in the crossfire, with dozens killed in the bombardments. These fishermen had reportedly been subjected to extortion by the group.
Survivors recount harrowing scenes of escape. “Boko Haram fighters are fleeing the Shuwa region’s islands at the Nigeria-Niger-Chad border,” said Suleiman Hassan, a fisherman who reached Maiduguri in Borno State after narrowly escaping the violence. He described how militants, accompanied by their families, were forced to abandon camps on islands such as Dogon Chukwu, Kangarwa, Gashakar, Yawan Mango and Kwatar Mota, using small canoes to evade detection.
Chadian troops engaged directly with jihadist forces on Kaukeri Island, a reported stronghold of Boko Haram within the lake. The operations follow a series of brutal attacks by the group against Chadian security forces, prompting a swift retaliatory response. Just last week, Chad declared three days of national mourning after an ambush killed two high-ranking generals. Days earlier, an attack on a military base along the lake’s shores resulted in at least 24 soldier fatalities.
According to a Nigerian intelligence source, Nigeria and Niger are actively participating in the aerial campaign. “The airstrikes are being coordinated by all three countries, with each contributing two fighter jets,” the source stated, requesting anonymity. The source added that Boko Haram fighters and their families are now stranded along the lake’s edges, hesitant to move toward ISWAP-controlled territories due to the ongoing rivalry between the two factions.
The ongoing insurgency has left a trail of devastation, with thousands of casualties and millions displaced across the region—primarily in Nigeria’s northeast. The violence has spilled over into neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting these nations to reinvigorate their Multinational Joint Task Force, established in 1994 to combat regional extremist threats.
