Chad army will stop joining regional operations against jihadists - president

N'DJAMENA, April 11 (Reuters) - Chad's army will no longer
participate in military operations beyond its borders, President
Idriss Deby said on Friday, a potential blow to international
efforts to defeat Islamist militants in the conflict-hit Sahel
and Lake Chad region.
Deby spoke during a visit to the Lake Chad zone in the west
of the country to mark the end of an offensive against jihadist
group Boko Haram, which carried out its deadliest-ever attack on
the army in March, killing nearly 100 soldiers in an ambush.
On Thursday, the army said a further 52 soldiers had died in
the 10-day counter-operation against Boko Haram, which it said
had killed 1,000 of the militants and driven them from two
island bases in the lake, which borders Chad, Cameroon, Niger,
and Nigeria. "Chad has felt alone in the fight against Boko Haram since
we launched this operation," Deby said in a speech broadcast on
Friday.
"Our soldiers have died for Lake Chad and the Sahel. From
today, no Chadian soldier will take part in an external military
operation," he said.
It was not immediately clear how the decision would impact
the anti-jihadist operations of the Multinational Joint Task
Force (MNJTF) comprised of troops from countries bordering Lake
Chad. Its work had already been complicated by divisions and a
lack of cooperation.
Chad's armed forces are among the most respected in the
region, a reputation forged during decades of war and
rebellions, and honed in a 2013 campaign against al Qaeda-linked
Islamists in the deserts of northern Mali.
Its suspension of external military operations could also
affect the France-backed G5 military force, which battles a
growing Islamist militancy in the Sahel region with soldiers
from Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad.
In recent years, militants linked to both al Qaeda and
Islamic State have strengthened their foothold, making large
swathes of territory ungovernable and stoking ethnic violence,
especially in Mali and Burkina Faso.