Boko Haram Insurgents Seize Lake Chad Island After Attacking Soldiers

The Boko Haram insurgents have attacked and seized an island in Lake Chad after hundreds of the militants aboard motorised canoes, stormed the place. The hardline Islamists attacked the island of Karamga at dawn on Saturday killing lots of soldiers, their second attempt to capture it since February.

 Lake Chad's islands, which lie in dense swampland, are an ideal base for mounting surprise attacks on the countries bordering the lake: Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria.

"There were many (Niger soldiers) dead on Saturday, considerably more than in the first attack," said one of the army sources, referring to a battle in February in which seven Niger soldiers died.