Chad declared three days of national mourning on Wednesday, May 6, following a devastating Boko Haram attack that killed at least 23 soldiers and wounded 26 others at a military base on Barka Tolorom island in the Lake Chad Basin. The assault, one of the deadliest against Chadian forces in months, prompted President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno to vow a renewed counterterrorism campaign, with security forces deploying boats to the area only to fall into another ambush that killed two generals and several officers.
The initial attack on Monday evening targeted the Barka Tolorom base — a remote military outpost on an island in the vast Lake Chad region, an area that has long served as a sanctuary for Boko Haram fighters and their rival faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). The base, positioned among marshes and waterways between Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Niger, is notoriously difficult to secure and resupply, making it a vulnerable target for militants who move fluidly across the waterways and border zones.
On Wednesday, a patrol of Chadian security and defence force boats sent to reinforce and investigate the initial attack fell into another ambush laid by the same network of militants, according to an officer from the General Staff who confirmed the deaths of two senior generals in the engagement. The double blow sent shockwaves through Chad's military establishment, already dealing with low morale and repeated losses in the region.
National Mourning and the Fight Until the End
The government announced the period of national mourning in a statement, saying it would run from midnight on Wednesday, May 6, to midnight on Saturday, May 9, "in memory of the martyrs who fell on the field of honour during the attacks by terrorist groups that occurred on May 4 and 6." During the mourning period, flags will fly at half-mast across the country and all festive activities are banned.
President Deby, who took power following the death of his father Idriss Deby in 2021 and has since been elected in contested polls, said after the first attack: "We will continue the fight with renewed determination until this threat is completely eradicated." The statement was interpreted as a signal that Chad would not scale back its military presence in the Lake Chad region, despite the heavy losses and the high logistical costs of maintaining operations in the remote area.
The Lake Chad Basin: A Persistent Jihadist Stronghold
Since 2009, the Lake Chad Basin has become one of West and Central Africa's most dangerous conflict zones, with Boko Haram — and later ISWAP — exploiting the vastness of the marshlands, the weakness of border security, and the poverty of local communities to establish a durable presence. Chad's soldiers, deployed to the region in rotating battalions, have been frequent targets of ambushes, suicide attacks on bases, and kidnappings. The terrain — a shifting mix of open water, reed beds, and islands — makes conventional military operations extraordinarily difficult.
In October 2024, a major Boko Haram assault on a military base in the Lake Chad basin killed around 40 Chadian soldiers, prompting President Deby to launch Operation Haskanite, which was declared complete in February 2025 with claims that the jihadist group no longer had "any sanctuary on Chadian territory." The May attacks expose the fragility of that claim, and raise questions about whether the declared victory was premature.
Counterterrorism Operations and Regional Implications
Chad is not alone in facing persistent jihadist threats in the Lake Chad region. Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria have all suffered significant losses and have been forced to maintain large, costly security deployments in the area, often at the expense of other domestic security needs. Regional coordination under the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) has improved in recent years but remains hampered by funding gaps, equipment shortages, and political tensions between member states.
The resurgence of JAS — one of the main Boko Haram factions — in recent months, marked by attacks on forward positions, abductions, and the targeting of local informants, suggests that the group has regrouped after the MNJTF and Chadian offensives of 2024-2025. For Chad, the double attack in early May is a grim reminder that the conflict is far from over, and that the country's young military is being asked to shoulder a burden that has so far produced enormous sacrifice with uncertain outcomes.