Chad government forces fought rebels in the capital N'Djamena yesterday, but President Idriss Deby said the situation in the city was under control.
Residents and diplomats said a battle appeared to be raging in the northeast of the city, where the national parliament and a Libyan-run hotel complex are located.
"They [the rebels] are in the city," a reporter said. "It can be heard from within the city, artillery and machinegun fire."
The rebels are bent on over-throwing Deby and taking control of the landlocked central African oil producer, as well as disrupting a presidential election scheduled for May 3, but the president said the poll would go ahead.
"The situation in N'Djamena is under the control of the defense and security forces," he told French radio RFI.
Both the UN and the US embassy were planning to evacuate non-essential staff, diplomats said.
One resident reported seeing a column of smoke. Most people stayed indoors and there was little traffic.
"I'm sitting here listening to the boom-boom," said one foreign resident, who asked not to be named.
Deby reiterated his claim that the rebels, known as the United Force for Change, were mercenaries hired by Sudan to overthrow him -- a charge the Sudanese have denied.
"In the hours to come, we will gather all of the evidence that the Sudanese government is behind the rebels," Deby said.
He also said that he would appear at a rally later yesterday.
The fighting began before dawn, with residents in eastern neighborhoods waking to heavy gunfire. The initial fighting appeared to be coming from a defensive position constructed on Wednesday on the road leading into N'djamena from the east.
Later, Chadian attack helicopters fired rockets at rebel positions around the capital and tank fire and mortar rounds echoed through the city as government troops attempted to hold off the rebels. Columns of thick black smoke could be seen rising from the center of the city.
French fighter jets based in N'djamena could also be heard, but it was unclear if they were overhead or just revving their engines at the airfield. The sounds of fighting could be heard coming from the north, south and southeast of the city, which has a river as its western border.
France sent 150 troops on Wednesday to bolster its contingent of about 1,200 already in Chad, a former French colony, to protect about 1,500 French citizens there, the French Defense Ministry said in a statement in Paris.
The French government has said in the past it will not directly intervene in internal politics, but would provide logistical support to the government.
The French Defense Ministry said yesterday that fighter jets carried out reconnaissance and intelligence missions the previous day to evaluate the threat, but could not immediately say whether they did the same yesterday. Such flights are part of France's overall mission to protect its citizens.
On Wednesday, Chadian troops spilled into the streets and began constructing defenses all around N'djamena after three days of attacks in the countryside by rebels and unconfirmed reports that a rebel column had moved to within 100km of N'djamena by late Wednesday.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese