Chadian forces to end operations outside its territories after losing scores of soldiers

President Idriss Deby has said Chadian troops will no longer participate in military operations outside the country’s borders as part of national army campaigns against armed groups active in the Lake Chad region and the Sahel.

“Our troops have died for Lake Chad and the Sahel. From today, no Chadian soldiers will take part in a military mission outside Chad,” he told national TV on Thursday.

Deby’s remarks echoed frustration as Chadian armed forces ended a major offensive against Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region.

On Thursday, the army claimed that dozens of fighters had been killed in the operation while Fifty-two of the army’s troops were also killed.

The offensive was launched after at least 92 Chadian troops were killed in a Boko Haram raid on a base at Bohoma on March 23 – the biggest one-day military loss in the country’s history.