Dozens of Nigerian fishermen are feared dead after the Chadian military conducted airstrikes on jihadist positions in Lake Chad, AFP reports.
Quoting a civilian militia member and an official of a Lake Chad fishermen’s union, the news agency said Chadian fighter jets bombarded two islands believed to be controlled by Boko Haram militants.
At least 40 Nigerian fishermen were reported missing and are feared drowned following the bombardment.
The exact death toll remains unclear, as military operations across the vast waterways and marshlands shared by Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad were ongoing at the time of reporting.
A militia member reportedly said the Chadian military had been bombing islands on the Nigerian side of the lake since Friday following recent attacks on Chadian troops by Boko Haram fighters.
The source said there were “huge casualties” among fishermen operating in the area, many of whom reportedly pay taxes to Boko Haram to gain access to fishing zones.
“The bombing was concentrated on the jihadist stronghold of Shuwa Island, where Nigeria, Niger, and Chad meet on the lake,” the report reads.
“Many people were killed,” a fisherman from Baga in north-eastern Nigeria was quoted as saying.
AFP reported that most of the victims were believed to be from Doron Baga, a fishing community on the Nigerian shore of Lake Chad, as well as from Taraba State.
“It is not a secret that Nigerian fishermen pay tax to Boko Haram to gain access to the remote island with a huge fish reservoir,” one source said.
“Boko Haram ferries them on boats to those islands and brings them back with their catch.”
The Chadian military had not issued an official statement on the incident as of press time.
The development comes just days after Boko Haram launched two separate attacks on Chadian military positions near Lake Chad, reportedly killing at least 24 soldiers and two senior generals.
In October 2024, Chad’s military was similarly accused of killing dozens of Nigerian fishermen during airstrikes targeting Boko Haram fighters on Tilma Island in Lake Chad.
