Shekau, middle, the Boko Haram leader: militants attack Chad for first time

Boko Haram fighters attacked a Chadian village overnight, killing several people in the first known lethal attack by the Nigerian militant group in the country, residents and a security source said on Friday.

“They came on board three canoes and succeeded in killing about ten people before being pushed back by the army,” said a resident of the village of Ngouboua on the shores of Lake Chad.

The security source said that about 30 militants attacked the village in the early hours of the morning, setting houses ablaze.

Boko Haram militants based in northern Nigeria have staged a number of cross-border attacks in recent weeks in their campaign to carve out an Islamist emirate around the Lake Chad area which borders Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

Chad’s army, one of the best in the region, has joined a regional offensive against them and says it has killed hundreds of fighters in the past fortnight.