Chad says air, land forces attack rebels near Sudan
April 6, 2007 (N’DJAMENA) — Chadian land forces and at least one helicopter attacked rebel positions near Sudan in retaliation for an operation they said was launched from Sudanese territory, the Chadian foreign minister said on Friday.
Chadian government forces have been fighting eastern-based rebels in an on-and off conflict that has been fuelled by violence over the border in Sudan’s Darfur region.
Last weekend Sudanese militia known as “Janjaweed”, who have fought alongside the Khartoum government in Darfur, attacked over the border into Chad, killing at least 65 people, torching two villages and sending up to 8,000 people fleeing for safety, Chadian authorities said this week.
“In the last 48 hours, we have bombarded rebel positions near Sudan. But we have not touched civilian populations because they had already been chased away from these areas by the Janjaweed and the rebels,” Foreign Minister Ahmat Allam-Mi told Reuters.
“We have retaliated following an action which came from Sudan,” he said.
Sudan’s government denied responsibility for the attack.
Allam-Mi said at least one helicopter had taken part in the bombardment, but gave no further details on the operation.
“The government is responsible for protecting the population by air and land. These actions are part of that mission, and we have on several occasions warned Sudan to stop supporting this rebellion,” Allam-Mi said on Friday.
Chad and Sudan have repeatedly accused one another of supporting each others rebel groups, despite several attempts by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to mediate.
Darfur’s four-year war, pitting rebels from local tribes against government troops and their Janjaweed allies, has killed an estimated 200,000 people and forced another 2.5 million from their homes.
Refugees and violence have spilled over into Chad.
Khartoum has resisted plans by the United Nations to send a robust peacekeeping force to Darfur where an ill-resourced 7,000-strong African force is struggling to have any impact promoting a partial ceasefire which has failed to stop fighting.
That has led to proposals for U.N. peacekeepers to be sent to quell Darfur-related violence in eastern Chad and northern Central African Republic, but Chad’s government says only police and paramilitary gendarmes should be sent.
“We have accepted the principle of an international presence in the east to protect refugees and humanitarian staff, but we think it should be civilian, that is, police and gendarmes with the resources necessary to do their job,” Allam-Mi said.
“We are open. Discussions are continuing. The government will give its views on the question very soon,” he said.
(Reuters)