Operation Haskanite is entering its final phase. Ten days after its launch, Chadian land and river forces began their offensive on November 6. Until then, the army had focused on airstrikes on enemy positions.
According to the Presidency’s Communications Directorate, the head of state, Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, who is personally supervising this operation, has decided to “directly confront Boko Haram elements.”
Wearing his general’s uniform, his rank pinned to his chest and a pistol on his belt, the Chadian president visited the island of Kaiga Kindjiria in person on November 6. Since October 28, he has been camping in the Lake Province, where an attack on an army base on October 27 left about 40 Chadian soldiers dead.
During the launch of the land and sea offensive, the president spoke to the troops mobilised for Operation Haskanite.
“The Chadian soldier is a man of honor; he never backs down in the face of the enemy. Let Boko Haram know that their days are numbered in this lake area,” he said.
Aboard vehicles and motorised canoes, the units, organised into several squadrons, were deployed.
“High morale, high morale!” Mahamat Deby as the supreme commander of the armed forces declared to galvanise the troops.
In images broadcast by the Presidency, he could be seen mounting the front, leading the nautical column.
Operation Haskanite is a response to the deadly attack on the Chadian army base in Barkaram, a town in Lac Province.
The official figures put the number of soldiers killed in the Boko Haram incursion a forty and around 30 wounded.
CA/Sf/ac/fss/as/APA