CHADIAN TROOPS KILLED NO FEWER THAN 200 BOKO HARAM MEMBERS.

General Ahmat Dari, commander of the Chadian contingent

• Nine soldiers lose their lives

Chad's army has said it has killed more than 200 militant Islamists and lost nine men during a battle to recapture Gamborou-Ngala in Borno State.
Boko Haram militants killed about 30 people after fleeing from the battle to Cameroun, a resident said.

It was the most intense battle known to involve Chadian troops since they entered the conflict in Nigeria.

Fighting in the town lasted about an hour, General Ahmat Dari, commander of the Chadian contingent, said in remarks broadcast on state radio in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena. The militants are “in disarray,” he said.

The Chadian troops seized 10 vehicles and about 100 motorcycles after the clashes, Brigadier-General Adam Abdoulaye said in separate comments broadcast on the radio.

Nigeria, Chad and Cameroun are also bombing the vast Sambisa forest, where the militants have bases.

Boko Haram fighters were suspected to have taken to the forest where they kept more than 200 schoolgirls they abducted in April from Chibok.
It is not clear whether any of the girls are still there. Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau has since said that the girls have been married off.

Chad sent troops to Cameroun last month to join the offensive against Boko Haram, following widespread criticism of the Nigerian army's failure to curb the insurgency.

About 2,500 Chadian troops backed by armoured vehicles crossed into Nigeria on Tuesday as part of the 7,500 regional force approved by the African Union (AU) to battle Boko Haram for the control of Gamborou-Ngala, a small town on the border with Cameroun.

Chad’s army said it had recaptured the town, although the sound of automatic gunfire was still heard yesterday in Gamboru, AFP news agency reported.

Retreating Boko Haram fighters have raided Fotokol, a town on the Camerounian side of the border, a resident said.

She told the BBC Hausa service that she had seen about 30 bodies, all with gunshot wounds, in a mosque in the town.

The six-year insurgency has claimed thousands of lives and displaced some 1.5 million people.