Government troops control eastern Chad – Deby

June 21, 2008 (NDJAMENA) — Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno said Saturday that a rebel militia and propaganda run on Ndjamena has been totally brought under control.

“I can reassure national and international opinion that the situation in the east is completely mastered,” he told militants from the presidential party at a rally in the vast north-central African nation’s capital.

“The defence and security forces are in control of the country’s entire territory,” he added.

Chad’s Army Chief of Staff General Touka Ramadan Kore said Wednesday his troops had won a decisive victory at Am Zoer, 80 kilometres (50 miles) northeast of Abeche, in the restive east which border’s Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region.

Both sides conceded it was a major battle, with the government saying it killed more than 160 rebels and halted a week-long insurgency. The rebels said they lost only 27 men.

On Friday, the rebel National Alliance said it was willing to sit down for talks with the government, marking an abrupt shift in rhetoric.

Deby also on Sunday issued an olive branch to militia members, calling on his “Chadian brothers who have become mercenaries, manipulated and armed by Sudan, to come back to the cradle.”

Chad and Sudan routinely accuse each other of backing insurgencies in their respective territories.

(AFP)