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N'Djamena 'littered with bodies'
04/02/2008 08:55 - (SA)
Nairobi - Helicopter gunships strafed rebel positions and tanks rolled through the streets of the Chadian capital on Sunday, turning it into a battle zone littered with bodies, said witnesses.
Dozens of civilians had been wounded in fighting that began after rebels trying to oust President Idriss Deby entered the capital on Saturday.
The violence threatened peacekeeping and aid operations intended to stabilise a region that bordered the war-ravaged Darfur region of Sudan.
The United Nations Security Council held emergency consultations on the situation on Sunday afternoon, and a statement from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said he was "profoundly alarmed" by the fighting in N'Djamena.
An aide to French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Sudan wanted to crush Deby's regime before the arrival of a European Union peacekeeping force, which was to operate along the volatile border with Darfur.
Humanitarian hub
The force was to be based in the area of the key eastern town of Adre, which rebels said they seized on Sunday. The government said it repulsed the attack.
Adre, near the Darfur border, was a humanitarian hub surrounded by camps with about 420 000 refugees from Darfur and Chadians displaced in the spillover from the violence.
Chadian General Mahamat Ali Abdallah Nassour charged Sudanese troops were involved and called it a "declaration of war" from Sudan.
Chad's Foreign Minister Amad Allam-Mi said on Radio France Internationale: "Sudan does not want this force because it would open a window on the genocide in Darfur."
"Why did the intervention happen now?" Sarkozy's top aide, Claude Gueant, asked on Europe-1 radio. "It was the last moment - before the arrival of EUFOR, which was starting to be put in place - for Sudan to reach its goal, to try to liquidate the regime of Idriss Deby."
Violence endangers $300m aid operation
Sudan had repeatedly denied any involvement. "We would like to stress that Sudan does not provide any assistance to any side" in Chad, Sudan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ali al-Sadeq said in a statement on Sunday. "Any developments in Chad reflect on Sudan and any instability there would have a negative impact on Sudan."
The statement from the UN's Ban said that "he appeals to all countries in the region to respect the inviolability of international borders and to prevent any incursions from being launched from within their territory".
The violence endangered a $300m global aid operation supporting millions in the Central African nation.
Rebel spokesperson Abderaman Koulamallah said the rebels also had taken a second strategic town, southeastern Am Timan, some days ago.
In N'Djamena, Koulamallah claimed Deby was trapped at his presidential palace, surrounded by tanks and armoured vehicles, and that they controlled the rest of the city after two days of fierce fighting.
- AP
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