Chad says 1,000 Boko Haram killed during week of fighting

N'Djamena (Chad): Chad says its soldiers have killed some 1,000 jihadists in an operation on the islands of Lake Chad that targeted Boko Haram fighters.

Army spokesman Col. Azem Bermandoa said late Thursday that 52 soldiers also were killed and 196 others wounded during the eight days of fighting.

The operation cleared the extremists from the islands in a vast area between Chad, Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon, he said.

The operation came after Boko Haram last month killed more than 92 Chadian soldiers in the deadliest attack on the nation's forces.

Boko Haram extremists have killed tens of thousands and forced millions from their homes during their more than decade-long insurgency.