Chadian army battles militia
2004-05-10 09:49
N'Djamena, Chad - Hundreds of Sudanese Arab militiamen raided a village inside Chad, sparking fighting between the gunmen and the Chadian army that killed dozens of people, Chad's defence minister said on Sunday.
The attack on Thursday - the worst such incident reported by Chadian authorities - is likely to strain relations between Sudan and Chad, which has been leading efforts to end a 15-month rebellion in the Darfur region of neighbouring western Sudan.
"On many occasions Chadian forces and civilians have been subjected to repeated aggression from the janjaweed (Sudanese militia) ... that's not going to continue any more," said acting Defence Minister Emmanuel Nadingar. "We have an obligation to protect our population and our border and that's what we are going to do."
The Sudanese militia killed six people when they attacked Djanga, 25 kilometers west of Chad's border with Sudan. Chadian soldiers then repelled the Sudanese gunmen, killing 60 of the militia, Nadingar said.
One Chadian army officer was killed and seven soldiers were wounded in the fighting, he added.
The Sudanese militia have been accused of carrying out a scorched earth policy in Sudan's Darfur region, which shares a long border with Chad.
On Friday, Human Rights Watch issued a report accusing Sudan of driving more than one million black Africans from their homes in Darfur during a campaign of bombing, burning and rape carried out by government troops and the janjaweed.
More than 110 000 Sudanese have fled to eastern Chad, but the Arab militia have been conducting cross-border raids for weeks, stealing livestock and terrorising Sudanese refugees and Chadian civilians.
Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bertrand Ramcharan, on Friday briefed the UN Security Council on the situation on Darfur and 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. The warring parties signed a ceasefire agreement on April 8 to would allow humanitarian agencies into the area.
Both the rebels and the government promised to observe a ceasefire to let humanitarian aid reach the region until they resume talks in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.
- AP