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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Chad: President Deby's forces, rebels clash |
| 2008-08-22 |
| (SomaliNet) Days of clashes in the Birak region of eastern Chad between rebels and forces loyal to President Idriss Deby Itno have claimed a large number of lives. The fighting broke out on Monday in Birak, near the Sudanese border about 180 kilometres north-east of Abeche, a spokesperson for the rebel Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) said. "The offensive launched by the ethnic-Zaghawa militia (Deby's ethnic group) is part of the president of Chad's huge pre-arranged ethnic-cleansing plan," rebel spokesperson Djede Koultou Gamar said by phone from Libreville. He said that both sides had suffered big losses as the fighting ran on into Tuesday. The clashes and consequently the loss of life could not be independently verified. According to Koultou, Sudanese rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) were fighting alongside Deby's militiamen. He urged the international community to put an end to what he called the start of a "genocide" campaign against the region's Tama population. Meanwhile, there were reports on Tuesday that an Austrian military patrol, deployed as part of the European peacekeeping force in Chad, was caught up in a gun battle overnight on Monday, possibly with the Chadian army. The Austrian government said fighting took place east of Abeche, the main city in eastern Chad, where Austrian soldiers are protecting refugees and thousands of displaced people from the west Darfur region of Sudan. The soldiers came under fire and retaliated during a patrol, the defence ministry said. Before the incident, they came across a group of civilians who said they had been attacked by armed thieves. No one was injured in the fighting, the defence ministry added. EUFOR's spokesperson, lieutenant colonel Cyril Zimmer, said its soldiers were "clearly identified" when they arrived at the scene. "They retaliated after being fired at while asking for an aerial survey (helicopter). According to those who arrived on the scene, the people who opened fire on them were no longer there," he said. However, a source close to the Chadian government said EUFOR's troops had fired on soldiers from Chad's army, who were also "chasing after the highwaymen." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 Just keep him away from cheesecake and tent pegs. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-08-22 14:58 |
| #2 Guess you're not a Caananite (Judges 4) LOL |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-08-22 14:13 |
| #1 I'd find it kinda tough to fear "President Debby"... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-08-22 13:39 |