(Adds details, background)

N’DJAMENA, March 22 (Reuters) - Boko Haram militants killed at least 23 Chadian soldiers overnight, Chadian security sources said on Friday, in what appeared to be the deadliest such attack inside Chad by the Islamist insurgents.

Boko Haram has been fighting for a decade to carve an Islamist caliphate out of northeast Nigeria, and has carried out regular raids over loosely guarded borders into neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Friday’s attack occurred in the town of Dangdala, near the banks of Lake Chad, two security sources told Reuters.

One of them added that the assailants were believed to have crossed the frontier from Niger before attacking Chadian soldiers around 1:25 a.m. (0025 GMT).

An army spokesman declined to comment.

Chadian soldiers are part of a U.S.-trained West African task force deployed to counter Boko Haram. The violence over the past decade has killed more than 30,000 people and forced about 2 million to leave their homes. (Reporting By Madjiasra Nako Writing by Aaron Ross Editing by Mark Heinrich)</s>Boko Haram militants have killed at least 23 Chadian soldiers overnight, Chadian security sources say, in what appeared to be the deadliest such attack inside Chad by the Islamist insurgents.

Boko Haram has been fighting for a decade to carve an Islamist caliphate out of northeast Nigeria, and has carried out regular raids over loosely guarded borders into neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Friday's attack occurred in the town of Dangdala, near the banks of Lake Chad, two security sources told Reuters.

One of them added that the assailants were believed to have crossed the frontier from Niger before attacking Chadian soldiers.

Chadian soldiers are part of a US-trained West African task force deployed to counter Boko Haram. The violence over the past decade has killed more than 30,000 people and forced about 2 million to leave their homes.</s>Boko Haram militants killed at least 23 Chadian soldiers overnight, Chadian security sources said on Friday, in what appeared to be the deadliest such attack inside Chad by the Islamist insurgents.

Boko Haram has been fighting for a decade to carve an Islamist caliphate out of northeast Nigeria, and has carried out regular raids over loosely guarded borders into neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Friday's attack occurred in the town of Dangdala, near the banks of Lake Chad, two security sources told Reuters.</s>Twenty-three soldiers were killed in southwestern Chad on Friday when they came under attack from Boko Haram jihadists, a military official told AFP.

“Boko Haram elements attacked the Chadian army position at around 1 am, killing 23 troops,” the official said, adding that the attack took place at Dangdala. “(They) made off with military equipment.”</s>According to security sources in Chad, 23 soldiers have been killed by Boko Haram jihadists in one of the deadliest of such attacks in the country.

The attack occurred in Dangdala near Lake Chad, an area where Boko Haram is active.

The Islamists are largely based in Nigeria, but stage regular raids into neighbouring Cameroon, Chad and Niger.</s>Boko Haram jihadist carried out their deadliest attack on the Chadian army on Friday, killing at least 23 soldiers.

The attack happened at Dangdala near Lake Chad shortly after midnight.

Security sources said the militants were believed to have crossed over from Niger and made off with military equipment.

Around 30,000 people have been killed and another 2 million displaced since Boko Haram launched an insurgency in Nigeria nearly 10 years ago. It has since spread into neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Chad is part of the five-nation Sahel Force established in 2017 to combat jihadist groups and human trafficking.

Every evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.</s>Twenty-three soldiers were killed in southwestern Chad on Friday when they came under attack from Boko Haram jihadists, a military official told AFP.

“Boko Haram elements attacked the Chadian army position at around 1 am, killing 23 troops,” the official said.

It is the deadliest attack on the Chadian military by Boko Haram, a jihadist group which launched an insurgency in Nigeria nearly 10 years ago that has spread to neighbouring Niger and Chad.

The Boko Haram revolt has claimed more than 27,000 lives and uprooted more than 1.7 million people.

The attack took place at Dangdala, on the northeastern bank of Lake Chad.

The assailants crossed over from Niger before launching the raid and “made off with military equipment,” the source said.

In southeastern Niger, meanwhile, eight civilians were killed late Thursday in a Boko Haram attack in Karidi, in the Gueskerou district, a local official told AFP Friday.

Gueskerou lies in the Diffa region, which borders Lake Chad, and is one of the worst-hit areas for jihadist attacks in Niger.

A total of 16 troops were killed in attacks on February 16 and March 9, while Niger’s armed forces said it had killed 33 “terrorists” on March 12.

Troops from Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria have been grouped into a mixed, multi-national force to fight Boko Haram.</s>N’DJAMENA - Boko Haram militants killed at least 23 Chadian soldiers overnight, two Chadian security sources said on Friday, in what appeared to be the deadliest ever such attack inside Chad by the Islamist militants.

The raid occurred in the town of Dangdala, near the banks of Lake Chad, the sources said. One of them added that the assailants were believed to have crossed the border from neighbouring Niger.</s>Boko Haram militants killed at least 23 Chadian soldiers on Thursday in what appears to be the latest deadly attack by the Islamic caliphate, Reuters reported Friday.

Chadian security forces close to the agency confirmed that the attack took place in the town of Dangdala, near the banks of Lake Chad. The assailants reportedly crossed the border from Niger before attacking a team of Chadian soldiers at around 1:25 a.m. At least 23 people have died, making it the deadliest Boko Haram attack in Chad to date.

The Chadian soldiers were part of a U.S.-trained West African military force tasked with eradicating Boko Haram, a Nigerian terrorist organization attempting to create an Islamic caliphate across West Africa.

About 30,000 people have been killed and a further two million have been displaced since Boko Haram began its initial insurgency in Nigeria nearly 10 years ago. Its activities have since spread to neighboring countries including Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.

In 2017, regional governments established the five-nation Sahel Force of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger, However, Boko Haram still controls large swathes of territory, and regularly launch attacks against Christian communities and those who do not adhere to their form of Sunni Islam.

Just this week, the group launched an attack in a Christian-majority town in northeast Nigeria, leaving an unknown number of casualties and sending residents fleeing for the surrounding mountains. Christians make up a slight majority (51.3 percent) of Nigeria’s overall population and are concentrated primarily in the south, while Muslims comprise of 45 percent of the population and live principally in the north and middle belt.

Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com.</s>Chad President Idriss Deby has fired his armed forces chief of staff following the latest bout of unrest which culminated in a Boko Haram attack that left 23 dead.

Deby fired Brahim Seid Mahamat and his two deputies by presidential decree after six years in the post on Friday night just hours after the attack in the southwest of the country.

The soldiers were killed after coming under attack from jihadists in the early hours of Friday morning in the deadliest attack on the Chadian military by Boko Haram, which launched an insurgency in Nigeria a decade ago.

The unrest has spread to neighbouring Niger and Chad with the Boko Haram revolt to date claiming more than 27,000 lives and uprooting more than 1.7 million people.

Friday’s attack took place at Dangdala, on the northeastern bank of Lake Chad.

Thursday had seen another attack by the group kill eight civilians at Karidi in southeastern Niger in the Diffa region bordering Lake Chad, The area is one of the worst-hit areas for jihadist attacks in Niger.

Troops from Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria have been grouped into a multi-national force to fight Boko Haram.

Deby’s reorganisation of security — which included the suspension of the air force chief and his deputy — saw army chief of staff Taher Erda take the top job with a general from the northeastern region of Tibesti made chief advisor on national defence issues.

Erda is a Deby loyalist and former police chief who fought alongside the president before he took power in 1990.

The air force suspensions followed the discovery of debris from an helicopter which went missing more than a week ago in the north.

The sparsely populated, mainly desert region near the border with Sudan, Libya and Niger is volatile prone to attack from Chadian rebel groups based across the Libyan border.

In late January, France pounded Chadian rebels who had crossed back into their country from Libya to halt their incursion.
In the town of Dangdala, Chad, 23 National Army soldiers are killed in an overnight attack by Boko Haram militants.