Clash erupts between Chadian soldiers and Darfur militia within Chad

NDJAMENA, May 5 (AFP) — Chadian soldiers and militiamen backing the Sudanese government clashed in Chadian territory just over the border from war-torn western Sudan’s Darfur region, a government spokesman said.

Moctar Wawa Dahabune told AFP the clash between the Janjawids, an Arab militia that backs government forces in Sudan’s war-torn western Darfur region, and Chadian soldiers took place 25 kilometers (12 miles) inside Chad, in the town of Birak.

“This clash is the consequence of several frequent and repeated incursions by Janjawid militiamen into Chadian territory,” he said.

Dahabune did not give a casualty toll from the fighting, but a military source here told AFP on condition of anonymity that six Chadian civilians were killed as well as a Chadian officer, while several soldiers were wounded.

The source did not mention casualties among the Janjawids.

“The Chadian government deplores these incursions and demands that the Sudanese government get control over the Janjawid army so as not to damage relations between the two countries,” Dahabune said.

The United Nations has accused the Janjawid of ethnic cleansing in Darfur, where rebels rose up in February 2003, accusing the Arab-Muslim government in Khartoum of supporting ruthless militias and neglecting their region, peopled mainly by black Africans.

The war in Darfur, according to UN estimates, has claimed at least 10,000 lives and uprooted a million people from their homes.

More than 100,000 have sought shelter across the Chadian border, and UN officials have said that the conflict has spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

A member of a Chadian team mediating talks between the rival parties, Allami Ahmat, last week accused the Janjawid of attacking locals within Chad in the same area and killing one civilian.

In Khartoum, meanwhile, the Sudanese government Wednesday accused the Darfur rebels of violating a month-old ceasefire, according to a Chadian mediator.

The Darfur rebels have also accused Khartoum of ceasefire violations, which continue to destabilize the fragile accord after the failure of two previous short-lived truces.