Thirty people were killed over the past week when a conflict between Sudanese government-backed Arab militia and rebels spilled over the border into neighbouring Chad, a press report said Wednesday. The Janjaweed, as the militia is known, on Sunday attacked an administrative building in Terbeze, near the border with western Sudan, as well as two nearby villages, according to Le Progres newspaper. As they were retreating they were engaged in a four-hour firefight with Sudanese rebels that left 20 dead. Last Friday 10 Chadian civilians were killed when the Janjaweed attacked four villages in the border area, the paper said, adding that the attackers made off with more than 600 cattle. Chadian authorities in the capital Ndjamena declined to comment on the report when asked by AFP.
Ndjamena on Friday denied any involvement in the deepening crisis in the Darfur region which has devastated the lives off up to one million people. A rebel movement in Darfur had on Thursday accused Chad of taking sides in the conflict, accusing it of granting the Sudanese army access to its airspace and territory. |