Dozens of Nigerian fishermen are feared dead after Chad's military launched air strikes on Boko Haram militants in the Lake Chad region, with a local union leader saying several members of his association were missing and more than 40 may have died.

Abubakar Gamandi Usman, who leads the Lake Chad Basin Fisheries Association of Nigeria, said no bodies had yet been recovered after the strikes. He said some fishermen may have been hit directly and others drowned while trying to flee in overloaded boats.

Chad's presidency said on Sunday that its forces had carried out retaliatory intensive air strikes on Boko Haram strongholds after the group carried out attacks last Monday and Wednesday on Chadian military bases near Lake Chad. Those assaults reportedly killed at least 24 soldiers and two generals, according to the presidency.

Usman said the fishermen had been caught in the same islands where Boko Haram fighters operate and where fishing communities also live. “After Boko Haram attacked Chadian forces, they retreated to islands they operate from. Fishermen also inhabit these islands,” he said. He added that Boko Haram controls access to the fishing grounds, moving fishermen to and from the market and collecting taxes from them.

The Lake Chad basin, shared by Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon, has long been a stronghold for Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province. Fishermen and fighters both move through its islands, and the region has seen a rise in attacks on security forces, kidnappings and raids on communities. In October 2024, the air force was said to have killed dozens of Nigerian fishermen during strikes targeting Boko Haram fighters on Tilma Island in Lake Chad.

Friday's air patrols had already caused panic in the area before the latest toll emerged, with Chad's air force circling overhead and sending fighters and fishermen scrambling for safety. Nigeria's military has repeatedly faced accusations of causing civilian deaths during operations against armed groups and jihadist fighters, and military spokesperson Maj Gen Michael Onoja has said recent air strikes in central Niger state were executed based on credible, actionable intelligence.

For the fishermen's families, the immediate question is whether any of those missing will be found alive. For the wider Lake Chad basin, the strike adds to a cycle of retaliation that keeps drawing civilians into the blast radius.