Calay News
The public television station Télé Sahel reported Tuesday night that a military aerial reconnaissance allowed to observe on March 7 a “massive movement of individuals” bordering the Komadugu Yobé river in the direction of Lake Chad, on the border between Niger and Nigeria. Aerial television footage of columns of people walking in the bush or swimming across the river was broadcast on the websites of Niger’s Ministry of Defense and Presidency on Wednesday.
According to the report, these were Boko Haram members from the Sambissa forest in northeastern Nigeria who were heading to the islands of Lake Chad to flee violent fighting with their Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap) rivals.
Boko Haram has waged a violent insurgency in Nigeria for more than a decade, killing thousands and displacing millions. Despite the efforts of the Nigerian government and international military forces, the group still operates in the region and has expanded its operations into neighboring countries such as Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.
Meanwhile, the Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap), a breakaway faction of Boko Haram, has recently engaged its rival group in violent fighting in the Lake Chad region. This fighting has led to massive population displacements in the area and has raised concerns about increased violence in the region.
The massive movement of Boko Haram members into Lake Chad demonstrates the fragility of the security situation in the region and the need for coordinated action by countries in the region and the international community to address the threat posed by terrorist groups in the area.
