Chadian rebels claim capture of key village
January 30, 2008 (NDJAMENA) — Chadian rebels said Wednesday they had captured a strategic town between the eastern city of Abeche and the capital Ndjamena.
“We have been in Oum Hadjer since 1:30 pm (1230 GMT). The government forces fled back in the direction of Abeche. They refused to fight,” rebel spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said from Libreville.
“We have rallied our forces in Oum Hadjer and in surrounding villages,” he added.
A government military source in the capital — speaking on condition of anonymity — confirmed that a convoy of rebel forces had been spotted around Oum Hadjer but said there were conflicting information about its movements.
“They are at Oum Hadjer, but we don’t know how many of them there are, or if they’re on the move or stationary,” she said.
The new offensive from the rebels coincides with the deployment this week of the first batch of a 3,700-strong EU force on a peace-keeping mission to Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR), aimed at protecting refugees from war-torn Darfur.
That force was originally supposed to deploy in November but is now hoped to be fully functional by March.
The authorities in Ndjamena accuse Sudan of providing safe haven to rebels hiding out in the Darfur region who cross into Chad to attack Chadian army positions.
An army officer, demanding anonymity, said the Chadian planes had bombarded rebels in the Ade zone, where they “left in a panic” and “returned to the Sudanese interior.”
“There are very few government troops stationed between Ade and Oum Hadjer, so it’s possible the rebels could shift there without a clash with the army,” the source added.
Ndjamena has frequently accused Khartoum of aiding and arming rebels within Chad. The Chadian rebels have expressed fears the government of President Idriss Deby Itno will use the EU troops, known as EUFOR Chad-CAR, to help prop up its position against the rebels.
EUFOR Chad-CAR troops are charged with protecting civilians in danger, particularly refugees and those forced from their homes, and easing humanitarian aid deliveries, as well as ensuring the free movement of aid workers.
Under a UN Security Council mandate, the mission drawn from 14 nations will also back up some 300 UN police officers sent to monitor camps for Darfur refugees and internally displaced persons.
About 234,000 Darfur refugees, along with 179,000 displaced eastern Chadians and 43,000 Central Africans also uprooted by strife and rebellion in the north of their country, are housed in camps in the region.
(AFP)