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Calm returns in N'Djamena
11/02/2008 08:37 - (SA)
N'Djamena - Chadian rebels fled south on Sunday towards their bases in Sudan as calm returned to N'Djamena a week after a bloody assault on the capital left more than 160 people dead, the military said.
The rebels, who were attempting to overthrow President Idriss Deby Itno, abandoned their fallback position in central Chad and headed south with the army in pursuit, said military officials.
"About 150 to 200 rebel vehicles left Mongo on Saturday and were heading in the direction of Am Timan, in the southern zone of the three borders," said one source.
The rebels were heading to this lawless area, where the porous borders of Chad, Sudan and the Central African Republic met, leading some to speculate that they would look to slip back to the safety of their Sudanese bases.
"Time is starting to favour Deby - the rebels are perhaps beginning to lack petrol, arms, food. Perhaps they are looking for an exit," said another military source .
People 'allowed to leave homes'
A rebel spokesperson dismissed talk of a retreat. "We are trying a new strategy, we want to stretch them out as far as possible from their bases," Abderaman Koulamallah said.
He said an army helicopter had fired over the heads of the rebel forces, but not attacked.
Back in the capital, residents were allowed to leave their homes in the evening for the first time since a strict curfew was imposed after weekend battles between the rebels and government forces.
Shops reopened with the scars of war still in evidence, including the charred shells of destroyed tanks.
A full curfew remained in place outside the capital - a sign of the uncertainty still surrounding the intentions of the rebel alliance, which had united three factions against Deby.
But, in a sign that things were slowly getting back to normal, Air France announced it would be resuming flights from Paris to Chad as of Tuesday morning.
Many of an estimated 50 000 people who fled N'Djamena to neighbouring Cameroon remained in refugee camps supplied by the World Food Programme (WFP).
The WFP said that as of Saturday it was feeding more than 37 000 displaced Chadians in Kousseri, northern Cameroon, just across the river from N'Djamena.
It said the refugees were "mainly women and children who spent several nights in mosques, churches and school buildings or in the open".
- AFP
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