Chadian army, rebels clash in east: government

NDJAMENA (AFP) — Chadian troops clashed Thursday with rebels in the east of the country, both sides said, each claiming initial victory in the first direct confrontation since the rebels invaded from neighbouring Sudan.

"The first ground clashes have just taken place at Am-Deressa, 10 kilometres (six miles) south of Am-Dam," Communications Minister Mahamat Hissene said.

"The government forces gained the upper hand and mopping up operations are continuing."

He gave no casualty figures.

"There was violent fighting with the troops of (President Idriss) Deby, from 5:00 am (0400 GMT," rebel alliance spokesman Adberaman Koulamallah confirmed to AFP. "It was very violent. The fighting lasted for hours."

Koulamallah also claimed success, saying that the battle "turned in our favour. Government forces are completely routed. We occupy Am-Dam. The objective is still (the capital) Ndjamena."

Am-Dam is 110 kilometres north of Goz Beida and more than 100 kilometres south of Abeche, the two towns used as bases by most relief agencies working in east Chad to help 450,000 refugees and displaced people.

The UN refugee agency on Thursday said it has pulled all but two of 20 staff out of camps for 60,000 people because of instability caused by the insurgency since the rebels crossed into Chad from west Sudan on Monday.

The decision echoes one Wednesday by the UN World Food Programme in the same region, because three rebel forces were advancing across Chad from the eastern border, stating that their sights were set on the capital Ndjamena.

"All the other humanitarian agencies are going to do the same" because the situation is "too volatile and too unstable," Serge Male, representing the High Commissioner for Refugees in Chad, but he stressed that "we hope this won't last."

The UNHCR has meanwhile provided for "very short term" measures to keep about 20,000 Sudanese refugees at Koukou Angarana and about 40,000 Chadians displaced by previous internal conflicts, Male said.

The Chadian government has accused Sudan of backing the rebel assault that started on Monday, while the ink was scarcely dry on a peace pact between the fractious neighbours brokered in Doha by Qatar and Libya.

Rebels of the Union of Forces for Resistance (UFR) claimed in a statement that they captured government military vehicles during a brief land clash on Tuesday between Tizzi and Haraz Mangueigne.

Koulamallah claimed Thursday that the rebels had "more than a thousand vehicles," but said they had been attacked each day from the air by helicopters and bombers flying very high. "Our air defence works fine," he added. "That is not a problem."

The government has so far stated that it carried out one air attack on the rebels advancing across the hot, arid south of the central African country in four-by-four vehicles.

Diplomatic sources said that on Wednesday the rebels entered Am-Dam and Am-Timan, 180 kilometres south of Goz Beida, where they encountered no resistance.

However, the military activity, which follows a thwarted rebel bid last year to seize Ndjamena after they entered the capital, has led to mounting fears for some 450,000 refugees and displaced people in camps in eastern Chad.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon "is following developments in eastern Chad with increasing concern," the UN said in a statement late Wednesday, calling on Chad and Sudan to resume peace talks and urging respect for UN humanitarian operations.

Chadian Interior and Public Security Minister Ahmat Mahamat Bashir accused Sudanese President Omar El-Beshir of ordering "mercenaries" to attack Chad and vowed that the rebels would be wiped out.

Peace between Chad and Sudan is regarded as essential to any lasting settlement to a six-year-old uprising in Sudan's western Darfur region, where the Chadian rebels have rear bases.

In February last year, rebels battled their way to Ndjamena in western Chad in a bid to overthrow President Idiss Deby Itno before being beaten back with logistical help from some French forces.

Pray for peace in Chad.

Original Article: Click here

Chadian Rebels Advance on the Capital

Radio Netherlands, May 6: In Chad, rebels supported by Sudan have begun advancing towards the capital Ndjamena, says a spokesperson for the Chadian Union of Forces of the Resistance (UFR). The UFR is an alliance of eight rebel groups.

The spokesperson says there have been skirmishes between its forces and Chadian soldiers in the south-east of the country near the Sudanese and Central African Republic border. The rebels say they have destroyed 9 armored vehicles and captured 12 others.

Earlier this week, Chad accused Sudan of supporting an attack by the UFR. The Chadian rebels, who have bases in Sudan, reportedly crossed the border on Monday. The Sudan Tribune quoted Chad's Communications Minister Mahamat Hissene, who said the rebels had penetrated around 100 kilometers inside Chadian territory.

Sudan and Chad signed an agreement to normalize relations at the weekend in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Mr Hissene accused Sudan of sending armed forces across the border while "the ink has yet to dry on the Doha accord".

Today, May 7th, the Chad Minister of the Interior Ahmat Mahamat Bachir went on Chadian radio, saying that the rebels had been defeated. For their part, the rebels affirm that they are continuing to advance on the capital city. One thing is true, the fighting continues. Please pray for blessing on Chad in these tumultuous times, for Chadian families, aid workers, and other foreigners.

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Please pray for Claire and Stephanie, held hostage in Sudan

These two humanitarian workers are being held in Sudan with the demand that those involved in the Zoe's Ark aid organization be re-tried, which seems unlikely. Please pray for their soon release, and safety while in the hands of their captors.

The original article from the BBC can be found here.

Threat to kill two Sudan hostages

Hundreds of thousands of people need aid in Darfur

The kidnappers of two aid workers in Darfur say they will kill them, unless six French aid employees convicted of abducting children in Chad are retried.

Chad's pardons two years ago for the French aid staff, three months after they were jailed, sparked public anger.

The Aide Medicale Internationale staff, a French and a Canadian woman, were seized in south Darfur a week ago.

The kidnappers have also threatened to target French interests if their demands are not met.

Armed men kidnapped the pair from their compound in South Darfur's capital, Nyala, about 100km (65 miles) from the border with Chad on 4 April.

'Treated well'

The pair have been named as Canadian Stephanie Joidon and her French colleague, Claire Dubois.

One of the kidnappers, who named his group as the Falcons for the Liberation of Africa, told Reuters news agency by telephone: "We demand France open the case of the Zoe's Ark criminals and judge them through a fair court.

"If the French government is not serious in negotiations with us and does not respond to our request, we will kill the two aid workers."

In 2007, six employees of French humanitarian group Zoe's Ark were convicted of trying to fly more than 100 children out of Chad to Europe without authorisation.

The group, who denied the charges, were sentenced to eight years of hard labour by a Chadian court, but were pardoned in March 2008 by Chad's president.

The kidnappers allowed one of their captives to speak to media by satellite telephone on Sunday.

Ms Joidon told AFP news agency: "We are being treated well. We do not know where we are. We wish [our families] much courage. We hope that all ends well."

It was the second kidnapping of aid workers since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant last month for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

Four workers with Medecins Sans Frontieres were kidnapped at gunpoint from their Darfur home on 11 March and later released.

Sudan expelled 13 aid agencies immediately after the indictment of Mr Bashir.

Trouble is Brewing

The Article below shows us what has been simmering under the surface all during the rainy season from May until now. The government forces and rebels are getting ready for the greatest clash of the Twenty-First Century. Please surround our beloved Chad in prayer at this time, that on the other side of all these troubles, Chad will find the peace and stability she so desperately needs...

October 7 (www.tchadactuel.com):

The Season of All Possible Hazards

The rainy season is over and everyone looks to the East. They are not to examining the sky to see if there will be rain or not. Rather, it is to try to discover when the "contact" between President Déby and the rebels will take place with its trail of misery for all Chadians. This "contact" will certainly happen, and both sides are preparing ardently. The rebels claimed that at the end of the rainy season, they will go hunting for Déby. As for President Déby, he has even suggested a date: October. Déby stated clearly in Amdjeress that his objective is to chase Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir out of power, and then he the rebels will disappear all by themselves.

Both sides are full of confidence and assurance. Déby has a serenity that he did not know before. The rebels say he is just putting a good face on a bad situation. While Déby has amassed an impressive armada of light and heavy weapons, transport planes, bombers, helicopters with night vision capabilities, etc... He has also sent all his war resources (physical and human) to the east. He has also invested heavily in buying consciences, both those of individuals and of ethnic groups. He does not skimp on ways and means, for he has plenty of them! Déby has allowed himself a stroll in Amdjeress, a region with a strong RFC presence. The rebels sneer, "Indeed, it is easy to go to Amdjeress when all the wadis are uncrossable because of the wetness of the season." In this rosy picture, there are few shady areas.

First of all, there is a perceptible tension within the President's family, along with various speculations: Déby reportedly escaped an assassination attempt, a palace revolution is apparently underway, and so on. Then his ally the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) is not in great shape because numerous deserters are bleeding out of their ranks, along with a strong lack of morale within the JEM ranks who are tired of being the mercenaries of Déby. There has been changes within the mobile regiment, Déby's shock troops. Tahir Erda, the Commander of the regiment, has been recalled to N'Djamena and has been replaced by a cousin of President Déby. He claims that this is simply a tactical decision because Tahir has remained long on the eastern front. Tahir Erda is the heart and lungs of the Déby defense forces. His being recalled from the eastern front just when the battle is about to begin is not at all a "tactical decision". Nor was the dismissal of Houno Abeguer Gouna a tactical decision, who is a strong fighter who is well known within the clan for not being afraid of a fight. We also learned that Déby's entourage when he traveled to Amdjeress asked permission to behead Younousmi. General Mahamat Saleh Brahim, the heat of the GNNT supported by Daoussa, is all the more determined to behead him, because he bluntly accuses Younousmi of being the principal financial donor for the rebellion! What a rat Younousmi is: as he provides financial help to Déby, he also provides financial backing to the rebellion! In another sign of impending shadows, desertions have resumed with a vengeance. There is not a day that goes by when at least one government soldier walks away and joins one of the rebel forces, often he bringing his vehicle with him. To close the brackets on the dark side of the troubles that seem to be working against Déby, it should be noted that the trench dug around N'Djamena has fallen in and become a very sandy dry river bed. Even the rains have voted in favor of the rebellion.

Contrary to the expectations of all their faithful supporters, the rebels have not at all advanced in terms of unity. Meetings take place within meetings, small discussions are happening within small discussions, and still nothing concrete has emerged from all this. Contrary to the concern of supporters who are watching this situation unfold from a distance, the rebels are highly optimistic and assure them that they will act in a united fashion, no matter what form their actions may take. AMEN!

Mahamat Ahmat
N'Djamena

Lots going on

March 16, 2008: Here are some of the latest prayer requests for Chad:
- 82 of the children staying at Bakan Assalam in Abeche, Chad, have been returned to their home village, to their parents. Please pray for their re-adjustment to the village, and that this experience would bring blessing to their future lives.
- The state of emergency over the whole country has been lifted, and a peace agreement has been signed by Omar Al Bechir, President of Sudan, and Idriss Deby, President of Chad. And yet, troubles still abound. The rebels threaten to attack the oil-rich south, and there are rumors of 200 rebel vehicles crossing the border into Chad last week. Pray for lasting peace, through the Prince of Peace, the only hope of Chad.
- Math teacher and political leader Ibni Omar Mahamat Saleh is still missing. Please pray for the truth to be known about his disappearance, and for his family who has been left behind.
- In N'Djaména, several thousand people have been made homeless as the government tears down hundreds of homes in the Goudji and Farcha neighborhoods. The people of these neighborhoods are majority Gorane, the ethnic group of the leaders of the rebellion forces. Please pray for these families in their suffering, for solutions to their current challenges.