Boko Haram militants kill 23 soldiers in an attack on a military post, Chad says

N'DJAMENA, Chad — Boko Haram militants have killed 23 soldiers in an attack on a military post in the Lake Chad region, Chad’s armed forces said Tuesday.

The region has long been threatened by the Nigeria-based Boko Haram militant group, which is known for carrying out attacks in neighboring countries.

Chad's military said another 26 soldiers were injured in Monday night's attack on Barka Tolorom island. In a statement, it said “a significant number of sect members were neutralized” and the attackers eventually were repelled.

President Mahamat Idriss Deby in a separate statement called the attack “cowardly."

A number of armed groups compete in the resource-rich, four-country Lake Chad region to fund their operations by imposing what they call taxes on local communities.

Boko Haram in the past decade and a half has killed several thousand people and displaced millions, according to the United Nations, and continues to carry out operations across parts of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.