All the countries in the world, in recent months, have been fighting a war. All the attention of the States is focused in this period of global pandemic on the fight against coronavirus and rightly so. It is a “war” and must be won. However, we must not forget to put the other coronavirus we have known around the world for more than a decade under surveillance. This coronavirus is terrorism, which is also causing damage in West Africa and throughout the world.The terrorists are always on the lookout and on the lookout, ready to hit a country like they did recently by attacking Nigeria and Chad in a violent, spectacular and simultaneous manner. These attacks were a great humiliation for the armies of these countries, in this case the Chadian army. Hence the need for states to have one eye for the coronavirus and another for terrorism. Because these attacks occurred when the first cases of coronavirus are reported in West Africa.

On 23 March 2020, in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, the Chadian army, resolutely engaged in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel and Central Africa, was attacked in Boma in the Lake Province. An attack in which this army known and recognized as one of the best trained and better equipped to fight terrorists has lost a hundred soldiers (92) and 47 wounded.This is the biggest loss this army has ever seen, it is reported. The terrorists also allegedly stole weapons from the Chadian army. This attack is seen as a humiliation by Chad, first its president Idriss Deby who is considering revenge at the height of the attack.

Idriss Deby went in person the next day to the Lake Province, where the terrible fighting between his army and the Boko Haram fighters took place (the jihadist group born in Nigeria that has been disrupting the peace of the States for some years). “The reply must be stunning,” predicted the Chadian president, himself a former soldier who seemed to find himself in his element of a fearless former soldier.In view of this response, he wanted to supervise and direct the operations himself. Under cover of anonymity, soldiers of the Chadian army told the media that the toll would be much heavier than the official figure put forward and that some soldiers might have been taken hostage in addition to the equipment stolen by terrorists.

“It is here on this cursed island that we have lost 92 of our soldiers, non-commissioned officers and officers,” said President Deby quoted by the Alwihda Info news site. However, the Chadian head of state involved in the fight against terrorism recognizes the bravery of his troops who have fallen armed. The fighting would have lasted 7 hours despite the reinforcements sent by the Chadian army. The area is an island where fighting is not easy.The fight was fierce. Despite the surprise of the attack, our armed forces heroically defended the community. The record is heavy on both sides. The camp is transformed into a field of ruins».
Personally affected by this attack, Idriss Déby will remain in the Lake Province to personally lead military operations against Boko Haram. He “refuses to join his office in N’Djamena,” Chadian Presidency reports to Chadian media Alwihda Info.

“Boko Haram, who was rightly or wrongly said that the wing was reduced in the face of the blows of the Combined Multinational Force (MFF) [composed of the armies of the region], is a reminder that we will always have to count with him. Let those who had given him for dead change their minds.The jackal is still there and still has a strong nuisance capacity. The proof is that he has just struck where, and when, he was least expected,”

For the record, the attack on the Chadian army came only a few hours after a harsh defeat inflicted on the Nigerian army by Boko Haram’s branch, which pledged allegiance to ISIS in the Nigerian state adjacent to Borno, according to military sources. 70 Nigerian soldiers perished in this attack.It was just a few weeks before these coordinated attacks in Nigeria and Chad, that the Nigerian giant recorded its first cases of coronavirus. Anything that puts all states on maximum alert to prepare for the pandemic.

With these attacks not only does Boko Haram take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic, but it also reminds that those who gave it for death or weakened have everything wrong and more than ever it is present and its ability to harm intact.

Indeed, a week before these two coordinated attacks, the armies of the region were indeed pleased to have «eliminated» Ibrahim Bakoura, one of the leaders of the jihadist sect in this region of Lake Chad. This Nigerian was a leading figure of the Islamic State in West Africa, «involved in several horrific attacks against civilians and the Defence and Security Forces, as well as kidnappings for ransom», recalls the news site Actu Niger.

The terrorists do not sleep, they may be affected, but they remobilize to attack when they can. It would be a mistake to give them up for premature death. “Boko Haram, who was rightly or wrongly said that the wing was reduced in the face of the blows of the Combined Multinational Force (MFF) [composed of the armies of the region], is a reminder that we will always have to count with him. Let those who had given him for dead change their minds.The jackal is still there and still has a strong nuisance capacity. The proof is that he has just struck where, and when, he was least expected,” writes the Burkinabe newspaper Le Pays.

In any case, it is urgent that the warning system put in place in various countries to fight against terrorist attacks remain, or even strengthen, because as we have seen recently in Nigeria and Chad, jihadist groups can conveniently take advantage of the coronavirus crisis to take action and hurt states very badly.It is all the more urgent to monitor these merchants of death, these fools of God for whom human life is worthless and who do not seem to have any sensitivity for the suffering of humans.

These latest attacks by Boko Haram remind everyone of the need to make the fight against insecurity a permanent struggle. In this matter, the slightest hesitation is paid cash. We must therefore keep the weapon at the foot» as Le Pays writes.Like the coronavirus, the fight against terrorism requires cooperation and collaboration between states. These are not scattered wars that each state leads on its own. Hats off to our health personnel, hats off to our defence and security forces.

Source : SeneNews / By Christmas SAMBOU