Chadian army battles Sudanese militia inside Chad, killing 60 gunmen
By ABAKAR SALEH, Associated Press Writer
N’DJAMENA, Chad, May 9, 2004 (AP) — Hundreds of Arab militiamen from Sudan raided a village inside Chad, setting off gun battles with the Chadian army that killed dozens of fighters, Chad’s defense minister said Sunday.
The attack last week – the worst such incident reported by Chadian authorities – is likely to strain relations between the neighbors amid efforts to end a 15-month rebellion in Sudan’s Darfur region, where U.N. officials have accused Sudan and allied Arab tribal militias of “ethnic cleansing.”
Sudan’s president has ordered a committee to investigate the human rights situation in Darfur, an official said Sunday in Khartoum.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Sudanese militiamen riding camels crossed into Chad to raid a village, sparking a battle that killed 60 militiamen, a Chadian soldier and six Chadian civilians, Chad’s defense minister, Emmanuel Nadingar, told The Associated Press
“We have an obligation to protect our population and our border and that’s what we are going to do,” Nadingar said.
The fighting between Chad and Sudan, however, has been overshadowed by what the United Nations has described as a major humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region.
The Sudanese militia has been accused of carrying out atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur region, which shares a long border with Chad.
The fighting in Darfur pits Sudan’s Arab-dominated government and a militia made up of Arab nomads against black African residents, some of whom have taken up arms to demand more autonomy for the western Sudanese region of Darfur, which shares a border with Chad.
On Friday, Human Rights Watch accused Sudan of driving more than 1 million black Africans from their homes during a campaign of bombing, burning and rape carried out by government troops and the janjaweed militia. Many of them have into eastern Chad.
U.N. humanitarian agencies are appealing for $115 million for people in the Darfur region and another $30 million for refugees in Chad, Egeland said.
The Arab militia from Sudan have been conducting cross-border raids for weeks, stealing livestock and terrorizing Sudanese refugees and Chadian civilians.
Acting U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan last week blamed the militias for a “scorched-earth policy” and spoke of “repeated war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Chadian President Idriss Deby has been leading mediation efforts to end the conflict and on April 8, the warring parties signed a cease-fire agreement to allow humanitarian agencies into the area at talks in N’djamena, the Chadian capital.
Both the rebels and the government promised to observe a cease-fire to let humanitarian aid reach the region until they resume talks in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. However, raids by the Sudanese Arab militia have continued.