CHAD

Chadian rebels on Thursday entered the eastern town of Biltine in the latest move of their hit-and-run military campaign against President Idriss Déby, a rebel leader and government military sources said. They said a column of vehicles belonging to the rebels entered the town without encountering any serious resistance.

Chad urged the United Nations on Wednesday to remove tens of thousands of refugees from its volatile eastern border with Sudan, saying that would help improve security in the region. Unrest in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region is blamed for increased instability across a large area.

Chad’s government declared a state of emergency on Monday in the capital, Ndjamena, and some eastern areas, where raiders on horseback have killed hundreds of villagers in ethnic attacks in recent weeks. The measure included the appointment of special ministers with far-reaching powers for the affected regions.

At least 100 people were killed in clashes between Arab and non-Arab tribes in south-eastern Chad last week, the government said on Tuesday. The violence came just one week after fighting between rebels and the army in the same area reportedly led to the deaths of about 100 guerrillas and more than 200 soldiers.

Central African Republic President Francois Bozize on Wednesday accused Sudan of sending armed rebels across the border to occupy a north-eastern town in his country. ”In the last 48 hours, the Central African Republic has been attacked by the same country which has harmed Chad. Let’s be clear: It is [Sudanese President Omar Hassan] al-Bashir,” Bozize told reporters.

A top Chadian army chief has been killed in fierce fighting between government troops and rebels close to Sudan’s volatile Darfur region, officials said. General Moussa Sougui, the army’s deputy commander in chief, was killed during heavy fighting close to the Sudanese border in eastern Chad, a Defence Ministry statement said late on Sunday.

Chad on Wednesday accused Sudan of supporting Chadian rebels who have resumed military operations in the east of the country, citing as proof the firing of a ground-to-air missile at a French military plane. ”These rebels … could only have procured this type of military equipment within the sight of … Sudanese authorities,” Chadian Foreign Minister Ahmat Allami said.

A newly formed rebel group has attacked a second town in eastern Chad a day after briefly seizing a settlement near the border with Sudan, the Central African country’s government said on Tuesday. Armed men attacked Am Timan on Monday afternoon, 24 hours after taking the town of Goz Beida and then being repelled by government forces.

Rebels attacked a town in remote eastern Chad near the border with Sudan on Sunday but government forces repelled the assault and were back in control, the government said on Monday. ”The rebels infiltrated the town of Goz Beida in the east of Chad at around 4pm [local time]. They were pushed back by the Chadian national army,” Communication Minister Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor said.

Chad’s President Idriss Déby Itno and his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Beshir on Tuesday decided to immediately reopen their common border and respective embassies, a high-ranking Chad official said. The leaders also said they were committed ”to working to reinforce peace between the two countries”, the official added.

The Chadian government has signed an accord with Sudan in the Chadian capital N’djamena aimed at normalising relations since Chad severed diplomatic relations two months ago. In Wednesday’s agreement, signed by representatives, the two countries agreed not to use their respective territories to accommodate armed groups active along their common border, according to media reports.

Fighting between Chadian army forces and suspected Sudanese-backed rebels in eastern Chad left 32 people dead and more than 50 wounded, authorities said on Monday. The toll included 10 government soldiers killed and 17 others wounded, while ”the mercenaries in Khartoum’s pay left on the battlefield 22 dead and 37 wounded”, a statement from President Idriss Déby Itno’s office said.

Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno, re-elected at the weekend, may have swept to victory in a poll boycotted by his main opponents, but critics and rebels agreed on Monday he faces huge problems. Results on Sunday night gave him a total of 77,53% of the votes cast on May 3, opening the way to a third five-year term.

President Idriss Déby is expected to win re-election in polls on Wednesday. But it may not seem like much of a victory. Many of the fellow tribesman who once supported him have taken up arms with the aim of toppling him, and most opposition political parties are boycotting Wednesday’s election, claiming that it is already rigged.

Chadian President Idriss Déby on Tuesday said he had full control of the country after last week’s failed rebel offensive and vowed presidential elections would go ahead as planned on May 3. ”We have the situation in hand throughout the whole of Chad,” Déby told a press conference in N’djamena, the capital that was rocked by a rebel offensive last Thursday.

Chadian rebels who advanced on the capital in a fleet of brand-new Toyotas had clear support from Sudan, which wants to replace President Idriss Déby Itno with a pro-Sudanese leader, diplomats and human rights groups here said on Tuesday.

Tensions between Chad and Sudan rose further on Saturday following a rebel attack that observers say could yet lead to the fall of Chadian President Idriss Déby. In the Chadian capital N’djamena, Déby accused his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Beshir of ”genocide” in the west Sudanese region of Darfur and branded him a ”traitor”, a day after severing diplomatic ties with Khartoum.

N’Djamena appeared calm on Friday, the day after clashes between government forces and rebels seeking to oust President Idriss Déby. Forces loyal to Déby, identifiable by their red ribbons, were deployed in various parts of the city, in particular around the presidential palace, but the number of military vehicles deployed was smaller than the day before.

Chadian attack helicopters fired rockets at rebel positions around the capital on Thursday, and tank fire and mortar rounds echoed through the city as government troops attempted to hold off a rebel attack. French fighter jets based in N’djamena could also be heard, but it was unclear if they were overhead or just revving their engines.