200 Vehicles from Chad/Niger boosts Nigerian Army , as Soldiers kill 200 Boko Haram insurgent, Retake towns

Troops from Chad and Niger have taken two northeastern Nigerian towns and left some 200 Boko Haram fighters dead, a Chadian security source has said.

Boko Haram had held the towns of Malam Fatouri and Damasak near the Niger border since November. Ten Chadian soldiers were killed in the offensive that began on Sunday, the source told AFP news agency on Monday.

About 30 Nigerien and Chadian soldiers were wounded in the clashes, a day after thousands of troops crossed the border to retake areas held by the armed group, whose insurgency has forced Nigeria to delay an election and neighbours to mobilise their armies.

A medical source in Diffa, the capital of the Niger region which borders Boko Haram’s heartland in Nigeria’s northeast, said 30 wounded soldiers had been admitted to the town’s hospital.

“We have kicked the enemy out of these areas and they are now under our control,” one of the Niger military sources told Reuters news agency.

Damasak, the town furthest into Nigeria, is 10km south of the Niger border, where Niger and Chadian troops have been massing in recent weeks ahead of the offensive.

The offensive marks Niger’s first major push into Nigerian territory to combat the armed group, which in recent months has engaged in cross-border attacks. Niger had until now only defended itself against incursions in border areas.

Chad, backed by its air force, has already sent troops many kilometres inside northeastern Nigeria winning back areas from the group near the Cameroon border.

The fresh offensive comes after the African Union on Friday endorsed the creation of a regional force of up to 10,000 men to join the fight against the group which on Saturday pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

As part of the ongoing multinational effort to curb insurgency, about 200 vehicles with soldiers from Chad and Niger have been seen crossing the border into Nigeria to fight Boko Haram, a resident said Monday.

Adam Boukarna, a resident of Bosso in Niger across Nigeria's northeast border, said that vehicles have been crossing since Saturday. He said after they all crossed into Nigeria loud detonations could be heard, signaling fighting against Boko Haram members.

Cameroon's minister of defense Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo'o confirmed there was an offensive by Nigeria and Chad but that Cameroon's military was not present because they've been asked to protect Cameroon's borders from the militants.

Chadian president Idriss Deby has claimed that Chad unilaterally decided upon the much celebrated committed war against Boko Haram this January, the resolute action not being the decision of Nigeria’s Jonathan and with the Nigerian president even stalling the process at every turn.

Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan had claimed that after five years of tolerating the sect that killed thousands, he finally this January embarked on the serious effort to defeat Boko Haram to make him more electable and to allow voting in occupied territory.

However the Chadians have said that this real war against the terrorists was decided upon unilaterally by Deby in reaction to Boko Haram obstructing Chad’s trade routes with Nigeria and the economy of the landlocked nation.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian military yesterday cautioned its partners in the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) combating Boko Haram to stop comments that would undermine the counter terrorism operations.

A statement yesterday by PR-Nigeria, media consultants to Nigeria's security agencies said:

"The Nigerian military has raised concern over careless talks and undue exuberance by some individuals from the military of neighbouring countries involved in the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJNTF) which have the implication of destabilising the spirit of the joint efforts against terrorism within the sub-region."

Recall that Nigerian Islamist sect, Boko Haram on Saturday, March 7, 2015 announced its loyalty to the Islamic State (ISIS) group which holds a large swath of territory in Iraq and Syria.

Speaking via an audio recording released on Twitter, Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram’s leader paid glowing praises to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of ISIS.

Shekau went on to promise ISIS his loyalty in difficult and prosperous times, beseeching Muslims all around the world to come together and support ISIS so as to promote the Islamic religion.