The government in Chad relaxed on Saturday its curfew in the capital N'Djamena, where at least 160 people were killed in weekend clashes when rebels tried to storm the presidential palace.
In the central town of Mongo meanwhile, 400km to the east, the rebel alliance that tried to topple Chadian President Idriss Deby last weekend spent a third day regrouping and planning their next move.
The government's strict curfew remained in place on citizens in the rest of the country, but people in N'Djamena are now allowed to leave their homes in the evenings, the interior ministry said.
On Thursday, following the attacks by rebels opposed to Deby, the government had banned all movements between 6:30pm and 6am. That has now been shortened to between midnight and 6am.
In Mongo, the rebels considered their options.
"Here everything is quiet. We are at Mongo where we are regrouping," Abderaman Koulamallah, a rebel alliance spokesman, said, adding: "We must lure the army far from its bases."
The fact that the government maintained the full curfew in the rest of Chad is a sign of the uncertainty still surrounding the intentions of the rebel alliance, which has united three factions against Deby.
"We had a strategy designed to quickly topple the regime," a rebel source said. "But when that didn't work we had to regroup to the rear, where we could more easily get our hands on some necessary fuel."
A military source said that an army convoy had left the capital on Friday heading east but no confrontation has yet been reported.
"We will continue to hunt them down," said General Mahamat Ali Abdallah, commander of government operations.
Abdallah accused the rebels of having pillaged Mongo -- a claim they rejected.
"We have called on civil servants to return to work, and we have put in place an administration committee in the town in collaboration with the local authorities," Koulamallah said.
Some observers believe the rebels may try and mount another offensive on the capital, but military sources doubt they have sufficient arms or fuel.
At the same time, it was far from clear whether Chad's armed forces have the means to inflict a decisive defeat on the rebels.
That task appeared to have become even more of a challenge after reports that reinforcements had arrived at the rebel camp from the east of the country.
Observers counted more than 200 all-terrain vehicles in and around Mongo.
These vehicles, capable of carrying up to 15 men as well as their weapons, ammunition and fuel, are an essential component of the rebel force, giving them the mobility they need in the country's unforgiving terrain.
In Paris, about a hundred people demonstrated the arrest by the Chadian authorities of four opposition figures, and denounced France for its support of Deby's regime.
In Bangui however, some 5,000 people demonstrated in support of the Chadian government and denounced the rebel forces.
Deby declared a "stunning victory" on Wednesday over rebel forces and said he was back in control, as Red Cross officials put the toll from weekend clashes at more than 160 dead.
"We have total control not only of the capital but of the country," Deby said at his first press conference since hundreds of insurgents poured into N'Djamena in a bid to overthrow his regime.
The fighting delayed a long-awaited EU peacekeeping force that was set to deploy in Chad to protect refugees from war-torn Darfur and others who have been displaced.
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