Chad apologises to Sudan for border clash
April 10, 2007 (N’DJAMENA) — Chad on Tuesday admitted its forces fought a deadly border battle with Sudanese forces as its foreign minister apologised to Khartoum’s envoy over what he claimed were unintentional clashes.
Government spokesman Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor said the troops were chasing Chadian rebels they had been fighting earlier Monday, and accused Sudan of providing protection for the militants’ retreat.
“Chasing the panicking (rebel) survivors towards Sudan where they came from… our forces had to cross the border using their internationally recognised right of pursuit,” Doumgor told a press conference in N’Djamena.
“It was thus that the defence and security forces were surprised to find themselves in direct contact with the Sudanese army forces, deployed to protect the (rebels’) rear.”
Meanwhile, a senior Chadian foreign ministry official told AFP on condition of anonymity that Foreign Minister Ahmat Allami had received Sudanese ambassador Abdallah Acheikh in N’Djamena and “expressed the regrets of the Chadian government over the incident.”
“The minister explained to the ambassador that while chasing the rebels, our forces found themselves facing the Sudanese army,” the official said.
“Chad will send a mission to Khartoum, led by minister Allami, next week to explain things,” the official added.
Sudan has accused Chad of violating a 2006 border agreement the two neighbours signed in Tripoli which Sudan maintains has been unobserved for the past year.
“The Chadian government has shown no inclination to respect these accords,” said the minister of state for foreign affairs, Ali Karti, in the presence of the ambassadors of Chad, Eritrea and Libya, Sudanese state radio reported.
Karti said his ministry had asked the Chadian ambassador for a written explanation from his government of “what happened and reserves the right to respond to this serious violation at the appropriate time and place.”
Armed forces from the two nations clashed along the border late Monday, resulting in at least 30 dead, according to the Chadian government, which said it was chasing gunmen from Sudan.
The clash marks a significant escalation in tensions between Chad and Sudan, who regularly accuse each other of sponsoring cross-border rebel raids.
Chad had earlier denied that its troops crossed into Sudan, after the Sudanese army said it had repelled a Chadian attack in Sudanese territory and lost 17 of its soldiers in the process.
The rebel Chadian National Concord (CNT) confirmed it had fought government troops earlier on Monday but denied crossing the Sudanese border.
“Instead of following us, the army headed directly towards the east and Sudan, where it clashed with Sudanese forces,” spokesman Albissaty Saleh Allazam told AFP by satellite telephone.
The battles between the Chadian army and CNT rebels took place in Amdjerima, in eastern Chad, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Sudanese border.
Chad government spokesman Doumgor said in a statement that at least eight government soldiers were killed in the fighting, while the CNT admitted 10 of its fighters had died.
The CNT last week accused the Chadian army of attacking its positions near the Sudanese border with helicopter gunships.
The previous weekend, clashes between local groups in eastern Chad resulted in more than 100 deaths.
Chad has accused Sudan’s government-backed Janjaweed militia of involvement in those attacks, but there has been no independent confirmation.
Chad and Sudan blame each other for supporting rebels in their respective countries. Both have refused the deployment of a UN-mandated force to patrol their border.
(AFP)