|
Curfew eased in Chad's capital
10/02/2008 09:51 - (SA)
N'Djamena - Chad's government has eased a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the capital but not in the countryside, where there were reports that rebels and government troops have been fighting in the centre of the desert nation.
French military spokesperson Pascal le Testu said there were "light skirmishes" on Friday in the central Mongo region, northeast of N'Djamena, the capital. He said there was no fighting on Saturday.
Internal Security Minister Ahmat Mahamat Bachir said residents in N'Djamena could stay out until midnight, in another sign that life is returning to the city, which was bombarded and looted during a coup attempt a week ago.
Foreigners who had been staying at a French military camp for protection have started going home, le Testu said. "Most have started returning home. The situation is calm, people are returning to work."
He said about 140 foreigners, most French, remained in the capital. French troops helped evacuate some 1 600 foreigners from N'Djamena. The last planeload left on Friday for Libreville, Gabon, le Testu said.
Hundreds dead
Across the Chari River in neighbouring Cameroon, UN workers began distributing food to refugees who fled during the fighting and remain too scared to return home.
"I don't want to have to flee a second time," said Rowengar Seth Ngakoutou, a labourer sleeping out in the open at a school in the Cameroonian border town of Kousseri.
He and other refugees said they had heard rumors the rebels were regrouping and planned another attack on the city.
A coalition of three rebel groups fought their way into N'Djamena last week and were forced out of the capital after two days of heavy fighting that left hundreds dead and more than 1 000 civilians injured.
Government troops patrolled the city in pickup trucks, with rocket grenades stacked on the side. Soldiers on foot stopped people to ask for identification.
In Kousseri, the UN refugee agency began distributing food to Chadians who fled the fighting. Spokesperson Gerard Mbairorem said they were handing out a seven-day supply of sorghum, rice, beans and vegetable oil, initially to about 37 000 people. He said most refugees were women and children.
- SAPA
|
News
