Battle of N'Djamena (2006)
| Battle of N'Djamena | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Chadian-Sudanese conflict | |||||||
| File:Chad gunmen.jpg Masked gunmen on a pickup truck near N'Djamena | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| United Front for Democratic Change | Chad military | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 400 deaths, 387 injured on both sides[1] | |||||||
The Battle of N'Djamena describes several battles that have taken place at N'Djamena, the capital of Chad.
1979
In February 1979, Goukouni Oueddei temporarily allied himself with Hissène Habré during the battle of N'Djamena, in which the southern-dominated government disintegrated.
2006
The battle at N'Djamena on April 13, 2006 was a battle between the forces of the revolutionary United Front for Democratic Change (UFCD) and the military of Chad when rebel forces launched an assault on the capital of Chad in the pre-dawn hours, attempting to overthrow the government of President Idriss Déby Itno from their bases an estimated thousand miles east. The rebels attempted to seize the National Assembly building, but the assault was easily repulsed by the much more heavily armed Chadian government forces. At least 350 people, including rebels, government forces and civilians, were killed in the fighting. 271 rebels were captured and paraded through the Place d'Independence the next day.
President Déby Itno blamed the attack on the government of neighboring Sudan, claiming that many of the attackers were either Sudanese backed by their government or residents of Chad conscripted by the Sudanese. The battle occurred just months after the Chadian-Sudanese conflict had ended with the signing of the Tripoli Agreement. Déby broke off relations with the government of Sudan as a result, expelling its diplomats and threatened to stop sheltering thousands of Sudanese refugees from the Darfur region.[1]. The Muslim-controlled government of Sudan has also been documented by the United Nations to have engaged in mass murder of approximately 100,000 non-Arab civilians in Darfur in the period 2003-2006[2].
The Central African Republic closed off its border with Sudan on 14 April saying that the rebels had crossed into its territory on their way to N'Djamena.[3]
The actions of the rebel forces were condemned by the United Nations Security Council. Secretary General Kofi Annan was quoted as saying he was "greatly troubled by the worsening security situation in Chad".[4]
Chadian reaction
Chad President Idriss Déby Itno threatened to expel 200,000 Sudanese refugees sheltering in the east of the country after repeating accusations that Sudan supports rebels who launched a new offensive to oust him. Déby backed away from this threat on April 17, 2006. [5]
Déby Itno repeatedly has accused Sudan of hiring mercenaries to overthrow his government. Sudan has denied the accusation, and in turn has accused Chad of supporting fighters in its volatile Darfur region, where Arab militias and African rebels have fought for nearly three years.
Déby claims that the rebel attack was designed to encourage a constitutional vacuum leading to civil war, by disrupting the forthcoming May 3 presidential election, an election in which President Déby Itno, who has been Chad's leader for sixteen years, successfully ran for a third term. [6]
Notes
- ^ England, Andrew (15 April 2006). "Chad severs ties with Sudan". Financial Times.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur to the United Nations Secretary-General,International Commission of Inquiry, 18 September 2004
- ^ Lacey, Marc (15 April 2006). "After Battle in Capital, Chad Threatens to Expel Sudanese". New York Times.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Various writers (14 April 2006). "UN condemns rebel attack in Chad". The Age.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Chad reassures UN, no expulsion of Darfur refugees". Sudan Tribune. 17 April 2006.
{{cite news}}:|first=missing|last=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Flynn, Daniel (18 April 2006). "Chad's leader accuses Sudan of waging war". The Scotsman.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)