Battle of Damasak explained

Conflict:Battle of Damasak
Place:Damasak, Nigeria
Combatant1: Niger
Chad
Combatant2: Boko Haram
Strength1:~ 2000 soldiers
Strength2:Unknown
Partof:the Boko Haram insurgency
Casualties1:1 Nigerien soldier killed
Casualties2:228 killed
Result:Nigerien-Chadian victory
Territory:Boko Haram loses control of Damasak
Date:18 March 2015

Battle of Damasak took place on the 18 March 2015 when Nigerien and Chadian armies attacked Boko Haram the Nigerian town of Damasak. Boko Haram was pushed out of the town after less than a day of heavy fighting.[1] Damasak was captured on the 24th of November 2014 by Boko Haram and was under their control until this battle. By the time the town was recaptured it had been mostly deserted.[2] .The civilians who remained were too old or too sick to leave.[3] After the battle Chadian soldiers set up camps outside of the town and two Chadian helicopters arrived with supplies.[4]

On 20 March, two days after the battle, Nigerien and Chadian soldiers discovered a mass grave of over 90 people under the bridge in the outskirts of the city.[5] [6] Civilian bodies were partially mummified by desert air, which suggested that the massacre took place some time ago.[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2015-03-20. Soldiers drove the terrorists out of Damasak in Borno state [PHOTOS]]. 2021-01-14. Pulse Nigeria. en-US.
  2. Web site: Boko Haram was 'driven out' of the northeastern Nigerian town. 2021-01-14. www.aljazeera.com. en.
  3. Web site: 2015-03-21. 'Mass graves' were discovered.. 2021-01-14. France 24. en.
  4. Web site: 2015-04-02. Troops from Chad. Niger freed the Nigerian town from Boko Haram The Seattle Times. 2021-01-14. 2015-04-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402210046/http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/troops-from-chad-niger-retake-nigerian-town-from-boko-haram/. dead.
  5. Web site: Aminu Abubakar and Melissa Gray. Mass grave found in former Boko Haram-held town. 2021-01-14. CNN. 21 March 2015 .
  6. Web site: Mass grave found in recaptured Nigerian town. 2021-01-14. www.aljazeera.com. en.
  7. News: Soldiers from Niger and Chad discover at least 70 victims of Boko Haram. en-US. Washington Post. 2021-01-14. 0190-8286.