Chad has claimed victory over rebel forces after two days of intense fighting in the east of the country.
The military said it had killed over 200 soldiers from the rebel Union of Resistance Forces (UFR) in fights near the town of Am Dam, which lies between Goz Beida and Abeche — two towns used as bases for humanitarian agencies helping over 400,000 refugees from Sudan’s restive Darfur Province.
More than 20 government soldiers were also killed, the government said late on Saturday.
There was no confirmation of the claims.
Government soldiers backed by helicopters and jet fighters battled several columns of rebel forces, numbering 50 to 100 vehicles each, said the UN, which condemned the rebel push.
The UFR had earlier said its goal was to reach the capital N’Djamena and overthrow Chadian President Idriss Deby.
Chad last Tuesday accused Sudan of sending the armed groups over the border just two days after the feuding countries signed a reconciliation agreement in Qatar.
Sudan quickly denied the allegation.
The two countries only resumed diplomatic ties in November after cutting them last May. The neighbors have long accused each other of conducting proxy wars through rebel groups.
Chad and Sudan signed the agreement, brokered by Qatar and Libya, in Doha last Sunday.
On Saturday Deby said Chad lacked confidence in the African Union’s (AU) ability to resolve the crisis with Sudan, the first time an African leader questioned the body’s authority in its six-year history.
The president also said his government would reevaluate its relations with Sudan and it began by ordering the closure of Sudanese cultural centers in Chad. He said the government would take over schools run by Sudanese in Chad.
“The government should evaluate together with friendly countries our relations with the African Union seeing its inability to find suitable solutions to the Chadian-Sudanese crisis,” Deby told a meeting of political leaders, including key opposition chiefs.
“Chad should consider withdrawing its confidence in the African Union and hand over the resolution of the crisis only to the United Nations,” the president said.
Deby’s statement indirectly suggests Chad is considering withdrawing from the AU, which would be a first in the organization that was formed in July 2002. Morocco withdrew its membership from the AU’s predecessor, the Organization of African Unity, after the continental body gave observer status to the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
The UN Security Council on Friday condemned last week’s rebel attacks in eastern Chad, saying they came from outside the country.
Chadian rebels have sought to overthrow Deby for more than three years. The rebellion followed disagreements within Deby’s inner circle about how to handle the Darfur conflict. Deby and many of his top military officers come from eastern Chad and have relatives living in Darfur.
The group fighting Deby — the Force for the Union of Resistance Forces — is led by his nephew Timane Erdimi, formerly in charge of oil affairs in the president’s office before falling out with him.
Eastern Chad is a temporary home to about 300,000 refugees who have fled Sudan’s Darfur conflict. The region also has camps for 187,000 Chadians displaced by fighting locally and in Darfur.
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