Chad carries out retaliatory airstrikes against Boko Haram
Chad carries out retaliatory airstrikes against Boko Haram
France24, 18 Jun 2015
URL: http://www.france24.com/en/20150618-chad-airstrikes-boko-haram-suicide-bombing
Chad's military said Thursday it had carried out airstrikes on Boko Haram positions in neighbouring Nigeria to avenge twin suicide bombings in Chad's capital that were blamed on the jihadists.
Citing the "cowardly and barbaric acts perpetrated by Boko Haram terrorists", which killed 33 people in N'Djamena on Monday, the military said that it had "carried out reprisal airstrikes on the terrorists' positions in Nigerian territory" on Wednesday.
Six Boko Haram bases were destroyed in the air raids, which caused "considerable human and material losses", the military said in a statement.
Chad would continue its "merciless" pursuit of the insurgents "so that no drop of Chadian blood spilt goes unpunished", the statement added.
Monday's attacks on the police headquarters and a police academy in N'Djamena were the first in the capital of the West African country, which has taken a lead role in a regional offensive against Boko Haram.
The riverside city, which lies on the border with Cameroon, has been chosen as the headquarters for the regional taskforce being launched to fight Boko Haram, supposed to group troops from Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks but Chad and its allies immediately blamed the Nigeria-based insurgents, who have carried out several attacks recently in border areas of countries that share a frontier with northeast Nigeria.
Chad is a key player in the five-nation coalition put together to destroy the insurgent group based in neighbouring Nigeria. It has also played a central role in combating jihadist groups in northern Mali.
Chad's military has lost dozens of soldiers fighting in both countries and there have been a number of attacks near its border with Nigeria.
But Monday's bombing is the first such attack on N'Djamena.
Burqas banned as security measure
The airstrikes came a day after Chad banned the full-face Muslim veil as a security measure and ordered law enforcement officials and troops to seize burqas from markets and burn them.
"Wearing the burqa must stop immediately from today, not only in public places and schools but throughout the whole of the country," Prime Minister Kalzeube Pahimi Deubet said in a speech to religious leaders the day before the start of the holy Muslim festival of Ramadan.
Any type of clothing that leaves only the eyes visible is a form of "camouflage" and is now banned, he added, asking the religious leaders to spread the message in their mosques, churches and holy places.
Prime Minister Deubet said instructions had been given to security forces to "go into the markets and to seize all the burqas on sale and burn them".
Anyone found wearing a burqa would be "arrested, tried and sentenced in summary proceedings", he added.
Citing the "cowardly and barbaric acts perpetrated by Boko Haram terrorists", which killed 33 people in N'Djamena on Monday, the military said that it had "carried out reprisal airstrikes on the terrorists' positions in Nigerian territory" on Wednesday.
Six Boko Haram bases were destroyed in the air raids, which caused "considerable human and material losses", the military said in a statement.
Chad would continue its "merciless" pursuit of the insurgents "so that no drop of Chadian blood spilt goes unpunished", the statement added.
Monday's attacks on the police headquarters and a police academy in N'Djamena were the first in the capital of the West African country, which has taken a lead role in a regional offensive against Boko Haram.
The riverside city, which lies on the border with Cameroon, has been chosen as the headquarters for the regional taskforce being launched to fight Boko Haram, supposed to group troops from Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks but Chad and its allies immediately blamed the Nigeria-based insurgents, who have carried out several attacks recently in border areas of countries that share a frontier with northeast Nigeria.
Chad is a key player in the five-nation coalition put together to destroy the insurgent group based in neighbouring Nigeria. It has also played a central role in combating jihadist groups in northern Mali.
Chad's military has lost dozens of soldiers fighting in both countries and there have been a number of attacks near its border with Nigeria.
But Monday's bombing is the first such attack on N'Djamena.
Burqas banned as security measure
The airstrikes came a day after Chad banned the full-face Muslim veil as a security measure and ordered law enforcement officials and troops to seize burqas from markets and burn them.
"Wearing the burqa must stop immediately from today, not only in public places and schools but throughout the whole of the country," Prime Minister Kalzeube Pahimi Deubet said in a speech to religious leaders the day before the start of the holy Muslim festival of Ramadan.
Any type of clothing that leaves only the eyes visible is a form of "camouflage" and is now banned, he added, asking the religious leaders to spread the message in their mosques, churches and holy places.
Prime Minister Deubet said instructions had been given to security forces to "go into the markets and to seize all the burqas on sale and burn them".
Anyone found wearing a burqa would be "arrested, tried and sentenced in summary proceedings", he added.