Sudan denied on Thursday offering any help to Chadian rebels, who were closing in on the capital N’Djamena in an attempt to topple the government of President Idriss Deby.
“We do not support any Chadian party against another and we have nothing to do with what is going on in Chad,” an army official told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity.
He reiterated Khartoum’s denial of supporting anti-Deby rebels, who were battling government forces on the outskirts of the Chadian capital on Thursday.
Military sources said some of them had entered N’Djamena but Deby said the “situation was completely under of control”.
Chad has long accused its eastern neighbour of supporting and arming the rebels, charges Sudan vehemently denies.
The army official insisted that contrary to the Chadian claims, Sudanese forces have actually forced Chadian rebels found on Sudanese territory back across the border into Chad.
“A joint army-police unit three days ago evicted armed opposition Chadians out of West Sudan back into Chad,” he claimed.
For its part, Khartoum has repeatedly accused Chad of supporting the rebel groups which have been fighting government troops and their proxies in Darfur since February 2003.
Deby himself is from the Zaghawa tribe, one of the dominant forces in the Darfur rebellion, which has been brutally repressed by Khartoum.
Chad and Sudan signed a peace deal on February 8 under the aegis of Libya and the African Union and agreed they would not harbour eachother’s rebels or conduct mutually hostile activities. – AFP