Chad government forces fought desert battles on Friday against rebels who were stepping up an offensive against President Idriss Deby, with almost 250 reported dead in two days of conflict, as the UN Security Council condemned the rebel assault.
The fighting, centered on the eastern town of Am-Dam, has heightened concerns among UN agencies and aid groups caring for about 450,000 refugees from Sudan and the Central African Republic.
The UN Security Council meeting in New York unanimously condemned the ongoing military incursion by Chadian rebels, who came from across the Sudanese border.
All 15 ambassadors endorsed a non’-binding, French-drafted statement that “condemns the renewed military incursions in eastern Chad of Chadian armed groups, coming from outside,” meaning neighboring Sudan.
France, which has troops in Chad, was anxiously watching events. The EU and the African Union condemned the rebel offensive.
Chad has bombed the rebels from planes and helicopters since they crossed the Sudanese border on Monday. The government accuses Sudan of backing the Union of Resistance Forces rebels, who have vowed to take the capital Ndjamena.
The rebels, who claim to have more than 1,000 all-terrain vehicles to carry their forces across the desert, said “several dozen” government troops had been killed or wounded and tanks destroyed in clashes early Friday around Houaich, near Am-Dam.
Confirming new clashes, Chadian Communications Minister Mahamat Hissene said 225 rebels had been killed, with another 212 taken prisoner, 127 of their vehicles seized and 93 destroyed.
On the government side, 22 soldiers were killed and 31 wounded, he said.
The army on Thursday said 125 rebels and 21 soldiers had been killed in clashes at Deressa, half-way between Am-Dam and Abeche, the main city in eastern Chad.
But the fighting spared Abeche, about 600km east of the Chadian capital, and Goz Beida, about 100km south of the battlegrounds. Both are bases for relief agencies, and Abeche is the eastern headquarters for the Chad army.
The rebels say they occupy Am-Dam, which is about 100km south of Abeche.
In New York, Chad and Sudan blamed each other for escalating fighting as the UN Security Council mulled a Chadian call for condemnation of the offensive.
“We are the victims of Khartoum’s Machiavellian machinations,” Chadian Ambassador to the UN Ahmad Allam-mi said. “The Security Council must openly condemn the [Sudanese] regime for its repeated attacks on my country.”
Sudanese Ambassador to the UN Abdalmahmooud Abdalhaleem Mohamad lashed out at France, Chad’s main backer and former colonial ruler, alleging that the French UN mission was lodging statements with the council “in the name of Chad.”
A UN military mission deployed in Chad and the neighboring Central African Republic to protect refugees and oversee the safety of aid work was considering the redeployment of relief staff withdrawn from camps earlier in the week, a spokesman said.
“The situation seems to be growing stable around Goz Beida,” where the UN stepped up military patrols this week, said Michel Bonnardeaux, the spokesman for the MINURCAT mission.
Chadian Interior Minister Ahmat Mahamat Bashir has accused Sudanese President Omar El-Beshir of ordering “mercenaries” to attack Chad and vowed the rebels would be wiped out.
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