Around 40 killed in attack on Chad military base, presidency says

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Chadian Special Anti-Terrorism Group trainees are seen during a training exercise, July 30, 2019. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Second Class Evan Parker via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)

DAKAR (Reuters) -Around 40 soldiers were killed in an attack on a military base in Chad's Lake region over the weekend, the central African country's presidency said on Monday.

President Mahamat Idriss Deby was in the area on Monday to launch an operation to track down the assailants, a presidency statement said.

The presidency blamed Sunday's attack on Boko Haram in a second statement issued later on Monday. The Lake Chad region has been repeatedly attacked by insurgencies including by Islamic State in West Africa and Boko Haram, which erupted in northeast Nigeria in 2009 and spread to the west of Chad.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility from the group.

Chad is an important ally for French and U.S. forces aiming to fight jihadists in the Sahel, which has become the epicentre of global terrorism under attack by factions loyal to al Qaeda and Islamic State.

Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have ended military operations with the U.S. and France in recent years and turned to Russia for support instead.

(Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian and Jessica Donati; Editing by Alison Williams, Barbara Lewis, William Maclean)