Third Chad rebel group clashes with army near Sudan
December 3, 2007 (N’DJAMENA) — A third Chadian rebel group clashed with government forces near the eastern border with Sudan on Monday after abandoning a month-old ceasefire just over a week ago, rebel and army sources said.
Fighters from the Assembly of Forces for Change (RFC) clashed with government soldiers near Aram Kole, northeast of the town of Biltine, in fighting which lasted around two hours. Casualty figures were not immediately available.
“The Chadian National Army (ANT) have attacked us. We’re in the middle of a battle,” RFC leader Timane Irdimi told Reuters by satellite phone.
An RFC spokesman later said the fighting had died down.
A military official who asked not to be named said there had been a firefight when an army patrol came across members of the RFC rebel group, but said the fighting had not been heavy.
It was the first time government forces clashed with the RFC since the group ended a Libyan-brokered ceasefire a week ago, a pact signed with President Idriss Deby in late October by several rebel groups fighting to end his 17-year rule.
Another rebel group, the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), which also abandoned the ceasefire, has repeatedly clashed with government forces over the past week in fighting which both sides say has killed hundreds.
On Friday a second armed group called the United Front for Change (FUC) and loyal to a defence minister sacked over the weekend, clashed with government troops in the town of Guereda.
European Union peacekeepers are due to be deployed in eastern Chad in the coming weeks to protect aid operations for around 400,000 civilians forced from their homes by fighting in Chad and neighbouring Sudan’s Darfur.
(Reuters)