Gamboru Recapture: South African Contractor Provided Air Cover For Chad

Contrary to a report in the media yesterday – that a joint military coalition comprising Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon had reclaimed Borno town, a military source stated only the Chadian troops carried out the operation with the help of South African Air Force which provided aerial support to Chadian troops.
Chad’s army has disclosed that it killed more than 200 Boko Haram militants but lost nine of its soldiers while 21 others were wounded in the battle to reclaim the border town of Gamboru in Borno State which had been under the control of the terrorists for months, Chad defence ministry said.
The Chad defence ministry, in a statement, declared that the country’s army destroyed more than a dozen vehicles equipped with heavy weapons and about 100 motorcycles used by the militants for battle in the towns of Gamboru.
Chad deployed over 2,000 troops as part of a regional effort to take on the militant group which had been fighting for five years to create an Islamist caliphate in northern Nigeria.
The Boko Haram uprising has become a regional crisis with the four directly affected countries – Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria – agreeing to boost cooperation to contain the threat.
In the last seven days, Chadian troops have been hammering the sect, and reclaimed Malumfatori, a town which had been under the sects’ control for several months as part of its campaign to create an Islamic caliphate.
Nigeria’s military said on Tuesday that its fighter jets had bombed the northeast town of Malumfatori, also controlled by Boko Haram.
After Chad attack, insurgents kill 70 in Cameroon village
Meanwhile, hundreds of suspected Boko Haram fighters crossed over the border town of Gamboru early yesterday and attacked Fotokol in Cameroon, killing 31 villagers. They may have been provoked by Chadian forces’ attack on their positions in Gamboru.
“Soldiers pursued the militants into Gamboru town where they were completely wiped out,” a statement said.
Cameroonian journalist, Malam Moussa Ledou Blaise, told the Voice of America (VOA) that the Chadian army launched an attack after the insurgents disguised as civilians.
The journalist also said that the insurgents had been attacking mostly Chadian military posts since crossing into Cameroon, adding that Cameroonian soldiers had mobilized to help the Chadians fight the insurgents.
Spokesman for Cameroon’s military, Col. Didier Badjeck said that its troops and those from Chad have been deployed to Fotocol to combat Boko Haram.

Six soldiers, 50 insurgents killed in Cameroon
Cameroon authorities has said that it troops killed at least 50 Boko Haram insurgents yesterday and lost six of its own soldiers in clashes with the group in the border town of Fotokol, Cameroon’s information ministry said.
The insurgents attacked Fotokol early yesterday, killing over 30 worshippers in a mosque and tens of others in their homes.
Cameroon’s information minister, Issa Tchiroma, told the Hausa service of the BBC that fierce fighting ensued throughout yesterday morning until the militants were driven out of the town.