Chad’s military airstrike kills scores of fishermen in Nigeria

Chad’s military has been accused of killing dozens of fishermen in Nigeria while targeting terrorists, days after 40 soldiers were slaughtered by Boko Haram during attack on a military base in the country, fishermen and anti-jihadist militia told AFP on Thursday.

Following the bloody raid by the terrorists, the Chadian army launched an airstrike pounding Tilma island in Kukawa district on the Nigerian side of Lake Chad on Wednesday, while fishermen were tending to their catch.

“There was an attack on fishermen by a fighter jet belonging to the Chadian military in Tilma island which killed scores of fishermen,” stated Babakura Kolo, a leader of an anti-jihadist militia.

“The jet mistook the fishermen for Boko Haram terrorists who attacked a military base inside Chad on Sunday,” Kolo added.

A Chadian general staff officer, who doesn’t want to be quoted, told AFP that airstrikes “were carried out on islands located on the borders of Nigeria and Niger.”

“Boko Haram fighters often blend in with the fishermen and farmers whenever they commit their crimes. It is therefore difficult to distinguish between the population and the terrorists,” the officer explained.

The Boko Haram raid on Sunday not only claimed 40 lives but also left dozens injured, with the group taking responsibility for the vicious attack in a propaganda video released on Monday.

Following this incident, Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby vowed to “pursue and track down the attackers to their last entrenchment,” according to a statement from the presidency.

The majority of the fishermen caught in the aerial assault were reportedly from the towns of Baga, Doron-Baga, and Duguri along the shores of Lake Chad, according to another anti-jihadist militia member, Ibrahim Liman.

“The fighter jet encircled Tilma before beginning to drop bombs while people ran in all directions for cover,” recalled fisherman Sallau Arzika, who managed to escape the attack and return to the garrison town of Monguno.

“A large number of fishermen were killed. No one can give an exact number because bodies are still scattered across Tilma,” he noted, adding that some of the deceased and injured were transported to a military base in Mile 4 near Baga.

Fisherman Labo Sani from Doron-Baga reported that two of his friends were killed in the airstrike, while another was critically injured.

“We were carrying out our fishing and it never crossed our mind that we would be attacked and killed by a fighter jet,” Sani lamented.

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