Rebel attacks continue in Chad
2006-07-03 23:37
N'Djamena - Chadian rebels attacked an
eastern town near the border with Sudan on Monday but the
government said its soldiers had put down the assault, killing
several insurgents and taking a number of prisoners.
In turn, the rebels said they had entered the town of Ade
and claimed victory for their fighters, saying they were chasing
off fleeing remnants of the government force.
It was not
immediately possible to verify either version of events.
Chadian communications
minister Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor said: "The Chadian army is chasing some of the survivors in their disarray towards the Sudanese border.
"The death toll from this suicidal attack by mercenaries
will be known shortly but already the attackers have several
dead and several of them have been taken prisoner."
Residents have deserted dozens of villages along Chad's
desolate frontier with Sudan's Darfur region amid cross-border
raids by Arab Janjaweed militia and their sympathisers.
Chad's President Idriss Deby accuses Sudan's President Omar
Hassan al-Bashir of backing Chad's eastern-based rebels, some of
whom appear to have been joining in Janjaweed attacks, according
to residents and aid workers.