The president of the central African country of Chad, Iddris Deby Itno, is joining front-line efforts to combat the terrorist group Boko Haram in an operation dubbed “The Wrath of Bomo”.
Reports indicate that President Deby was pictured in a military uniform last week as he led the operation.
The Wrath of Bomo is a reprisal attack put together by the Chadian government after a Boko Haram onslaught killed more than 90 Chadian soldiers last month.
The president himself tweeted almost three weeks ago saying, “We launched the “Wrath of Bomo” operation. We must defeat terrorism to allow our people and especially those of Lake Chad to live in peace. This is the whole meaning of the fight that our valiant soldiers are waging against Boko Haram.”
Chad, a neighbor to Nigeria – the country of Boko Haram’s origin, has had to deal with the spillover of the insurgency mounted by the Islamic fundamentalist group.
Boko Haram’s campaign has seen the group entering other countries such as Cameroon and Niger. Africanews reported that President Deby has been on the ground in the western region of the country where Boko Haram has encamped.
After Chad’s military had freed some Nigerian soldiers in Boko Haram captivity last week, Deby declared that his country had gotten rid of the terrorist group.
He tweeted on April 4, “I went down this morning to Kaiga-Kindjinria. No element of Boko haram is present in the islands of Lake Chad. Congratulations to our Defense and Security Forces who have cleaned up the entire island area.”
The Chadian president is a former military officer who seized office in 1990 in a coup against President Hissène Habré. Deby has fought off multiple rebellions aginst his rule.
The 67-year-old has gone on to transition into a democratically elected president winning every presidential race since 1996. Between 2016 and 2017, he was the head of the African Union (AU).
