/ 27 November 2006

Chad increases its defences

With humanitarian groups sounding the alarm about the violence in eastern Chad near Sudan, the Chadian government has sent troops south to neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR) to battle rebels there who, it said, are being backed by Sudan.

Chad is already contributing troops to a regional peacekeeping force in CAR but the prime minister said last week that he wants to send more. ”We must do more to help the Central African government by reinforcing the forces already present and ensuring that Sudanese government aggression fails,” he said.

Sudan has denied backing fighters in either CAR or Chad. Chad is also fighting a rebellion against the government of President Idriss Deby that aid agencies say has diverted its army away from the border, opening the door to militia attacks launched from Sudanese territory.

United Nations Secretary General Koffi Annan has called for an international presence on Sudan’s border with Chad to prevent the Darfur conflict from spreading.

”You have cross-border attacks and we are looking at the possibility of putting UN observers or some international presence on the border and working with the government of Chad to ensure that the refugees who are in Chad are protected and to ensure that cross-border attacks would also be minimised,” Annan said.

Leslie Lefkow, Darfur researcher for Huma Rights Watch, told Irin that the fresh violence in Chad is partly being triggered by the end of seasonal rains and the migration of nomads.

”But, it’s part of the broader picture of increasing violence against civilians all along this regional area,” she said. ”There’s been instability in Chad for years and equally one can say in CAR. What the Darfur crisis has done is to create linkages between armed groups in the different countries.”

Meanwhile, joint operations of Central African governments and Chadian troops are tracking rebels in the northwestern CAR, driving residents of the area into the bush. Aid workers estimate that at least 150 000 people are now in need of assistance. According to Marcus Prior of the World Food Programme (WFP), the attacks have increased over the past two weeks. Last month, WFP started an air service to deliver humanitarian aid to northern CAR where up to one million people have been affected by the violence.