Chad army chief killed
2006-03-31 11:42
N'Djamena - Chad's top army general, a nephew of the country's president, has died from wounds he received during fierce fighting with rebels backed by Janjaweed militia from Sudan, say military sources on Friday.
General Abakar Yusuf Itno, head of military operations against Chadian rebels ensconced in the east of the country, was seriously wounded on Thursday afternoon in clashes, some 100km south of border town Adre and died before he could receive medical attention.
Fighting on Thursday between some 1 000 Chadian army regulars and a comparable number of rebel forces from the Rally for Democracy and Liberty (RDL) left 60 Chadian soldiers wounded.
Incursions by 'Sudanese militias'
According to officials in N'Djamena, the rebels were reinforced by Sudan-backed Janjaweed militias who had crossed over into Chad from the neighbouring Sudanese province of Darfur.
Earlier this month, Chad denounced incursions by "Sudanese militias" into its territory, and last week President Idriss Deby Itno again condemned Sudan's "material and financial" backing for the rebels.
Foreign minister Ahmat Allami said that between 4 000 and 5 000 Chadians living in frontier villages had fled their homes to seek shelter from the Janjaweed horsemen.
Humanitarian organisations said that about 30 000 Chadians had been displaced since the end of December by cross-border attacks in the east of the country, where some 200 000 Sudanese refugees had sought safety after fleeing Darfur.