DAKAR, Senegal — Boko Haram widened its attacks to a fourth country early on Friday, striking a village in Chad for the first time.
Members of the Islamist militant group have killed thousands of people in their home territory, Nigeria, and have carried out deadly attacks in neighboring Cameroon and Niger.
On Friday, they sped across Lake Chad before daybreak on four motorized canoes, intent on doing the same in Chad, a nation whose military has begun fighting Boko Haram in the region, a spokesman for the Chadian military said.
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There were also signs of strain in the fragile four-nation coalition against Boko Haram, with defense officials of Niger and Nigeria trading insults, and the Nigerian military spokesman posting angry messages on Twitter criticizing Niger for perceived insults aimed at the country’s soldiers, according to Nigerian media.
Nigerian soldiers, often poorly equipped, have repeatedly abandoned their positions in the face of Boko Haram attacks, according to numerous accounts, a reputation that has become a source of tension within the coalition.
