Rebels in Chad said on Tuesday they had seized control of another eastern town and captured a senior military officer after fresh fighting in their fierce offensive aimed at the capital, Ndjamena.
”We have taken Am Zoer after violent clashes. We took prisoner a chief of the garrison,” a spokesperson for the National Alliance rebel grouping, Ali Gueddei, said by telephone.
”It is a senior officer. We will tell you his name after he has been identified,” he added.
On Monday heavy clashes were reported near the town of Biltine, about 750km east of Ndjamena. The attack on Am Zoer marked a further westward step by the rebels.
They have vowed to attack Ndjamena, in a repeat of an unsuccessful coup attempt in February. The Chadian authorities have dismissed their efforts so far as a bid for ”publicity”.
The United States announced on Monday it was pulling out non-vital embassy staff from Chad while the United Nations Security Council and African Union both denounced the rebel assault.
A large European Union force is stationed in the east of Chad to protect displaced people and refugees fleeing from war-ravaged Darfur in neighbouring Sudan. — AFP
