Boko Haram launches first attack on Chadian village

February 13, 2015

MOUNDOU, Chad (AP) — Suspected Boko Haram militants staged their first attack in Chad on Friday, hitting the third country outside their home base of Nigeria in recent days as the region beefs up its military response to the armed Muslim extremist group.

The assault took place in the village of Ngouboua on the shore of Lake Chad early Friday, and left a community leader, one Chadian soldier and at least two militants dead, Chad's military said. Boko Haram has threated any nation contributing to the fight against them. The nation of Chad is contributing the most military muscle to the effort, with its soldiers already attacking the insurgents in the countries of Cameroon and Nigeria.

"The assailants have scattered and the army is now pursuing them," Chad army Col. Azem Bermandoa Agouna told The Associated Press by telephone. Ngouboua is already home to nearly 3,300 refugees who had fled Boko Haram-related violence back home in Nigeria, according to the United Nations. The U.N. refugee agency said Friday it had heard reports of the deadly violence there and was investigating.

"Security is a major concern for all humanitarian agencies, and for the refugees themselves," the agency said Friday at a briefing in Geneva. Boko Haram's insurgency has forced some 157,000 people to seek refuge in Niger, while 40,000 others have gone to Cameroon and 17,000 are in Chad, the U.N. said. Almost 1 million Nigerians are internally displaced, according to the country's own statistics.

The United Nations special representative for West Africa said Friday that Nigeria's military needs to show "greater resolve" in the widening fight against the extremist group Boko Haram. "I think we all expect more from the Nigerian military," Mohammed Ibn Chambas said at the U.N.

Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin all have pledged to send military support though Chadian soldiers are already fighting Boko Haram militants inside Cameroon and Nigeria. The multinational force to fight Boko Haram is expected to be formally launched in coming weeks.

Larson reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press reporter Cara Anna at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Chad to send troops to Cameroon against Boko Haram

16 January 2015 Friday

Chad will send a large number of troops to neighboring Cameroon to help it fight increasing incursions from Boko Haram militants attacking from Nigeria, the Central African nation's president said on Thursday.

The announcement by President Paul Biya did not specify how many troops Chad will send, but comes a day after the Chadian government said it will actively help Cameroon fight Boko Haram militants.

Chad President Idriss Deby Itno "has decided to send a large contingent of Chadian armed forces to help the Cameroonian Armed Forces facing...repeated attacks from the Boko Haram terrorist sect," Biya said in the statement on the presidency's website.

Biya has called for international military help to fight the militant group that has seized swathes of northern Nigeria and is threatening neighbors who share borders with the northeastern zones occupied by the group.

Boko Haram has stepped up attacks in the region as Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy, prepares for a crucial Feb. 14 presidential election.

The group has also carried out a number of attacks and raids across the border in northern Cameroon, prompting the government to deploy thousands of troops including special forces.

United Nations Special Representative for West Africa Mohamed Ibn Chambas on Thursday, urged Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, the four nations in the region immediately threatened by Boko Haram, to set aside their differences and agree on a command structure and strategy for a regional force to defeat the militants.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/153119/chad-to-send-troops-to-cameroon-against-boko-haram.

Influx of CAR refugees into Chad

Wed Mar 12, 2014

Chad is struggling to manage the influx of refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR) as its resources are limited.

The Chadian government is sheltering more than 80,000 refugees from the CAR in transit centers across the country.

This is while thousands of people have been neglected by the authorities and humanitarian agencies, and many are suffering from severe malnutrition and with no shelter other than the shade of trees.

“It is unacceptable for thousands of men, women and children who were forced to leave CAR fearing for their lives, to die here in Chad for lack of even the most basic assistance. It is important that the Chadian government and the international community including the UN agencies urgently assist these people and ensure that they have security, access to food, medical services, and adequate shelter,” Christian Mukosa, the Central Africa Researcher at Amnesty International, said.

Doctors Without Borders’ emergency coordinator, Foura Sassou Madi, said refugees fleeing the violence in the Central African Republic are arriving in Chad in very precarious conditions in need of medical assistance.

Tens of thousands of civilians have crossed from the Central African Republic into southern Chad in the past three months. Most of them are Muslims and are sleeping in makeshift shelters near the border. The CAR has been facing deadly violence since December 2013, when Christian armed groups launched coordinated attacks against the mostly Muslim Seleka group, which toppled the government in March 2013.

On March 11, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said ongoing violence pushed most Muslims out of the western side of the CAR.

According to the UN, more than 950,000 people have been displaced and thousands more killed by violence in the country.

The atrocities take place despite the intervention of French troops in the former colony. On December 5, 2013, France invaded the CAR after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution giving the African Union and France the go-ahead to send troops to the country.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/354321.html.

Chad, Sudan reopen border

Wed Apr 14, 2010

Chad and Sudan have reopened their border as a sign of improved relations seven years after it was closed down due to the Darfur conflict, Chadian officials say.

"The border was opened Saturday and traffic is moving freely between the two countries," AFP quoted a local official, Hassan Ibrahim, by phone from a Chadian border town called Adre.

"Sudanese taxis are going back and forth and so are the people," he added. Adre is located about 34 kilometers (21 miles) from el-Geneina in Darfur.

The reopening of the border was also confirmed by another official in the Chadian Foreign Ministry who asked for anonymity.

The border decision was part of the accord signed in January normalizing relations between Chad and Sudan, the official said.

Since 2003 there have been rebel attacks in Sudan's Darfur and also within Chad. Tensions had been high between the two countries with both sides accusing each other of supporting cross-border insurgents.

After Darfur rebels reached the outskirts of the capital Khartoum in May 2008, Sudan broke off diplomatic relations with Chad accusing Ndjamena of backing the attack.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/123308.html.

Chad leader extends olive branch to Beshir

2010-02-08

Deby says his visit to Sudan aims to show his country’s commitment to see peace restored between two nations.

By Guillaume Lavallee - KHARTOUM

Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno paid a landmark visit on Monday to Khartoum, in a bid to consolidate a thaw in ties and boost efforts to bring peace to Sudan's war-torn Darfur region.

Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir greeted Deby at Khartoum airport at the start of a visit expected to help seal last month's accord normalizing ties between the neighboring states, a move essential to future peace in Darfur.

"We have come here like a dove... we came to show our will, our availability, our commitment to see peace, tranquility and confidence return" between the two countries, Deby said at the start of talks.

"We came and wish to leave with peace," he said on his first trip to Sudan since July 2004 when he visited El-Geneina, the strategic capital of West Darfur which borders Chad.

Chad has long accused Sudan of supporting rebels seeking to oust its government, while Khartoum has in turn charged Ndjamena with backing ethnic minority rebels in western Darfur.

But the two states also agreed in mid-January to deploy a joint force on their border, in a move aimed at ending the presence of rebels on each other's territory and halting their activity, as part of efforts towards normalization.

"We are committed to implementing all the agreements signed between our two countries," Beshir said.

"We want to return to better relations," he added, underlining the importance of the deployment of the joint border force which will have a "strong impact" on security along the frontier and for the people of Darfur.

Last month's deal also provides for the deployment of 3,000 troops along the border, with each country contributing a 1,500-strong contingent.

Chad and Sudan had in the past signed similar agreements, but those accords were never implemented.

In March 2008, the two states signed the Dakar agreement in the Senegalese capital, but it crumbled months later when Darfur rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement launched an unprecedented assault on the Sudanese capital.

This was followed by a surprise rebel attack on Ndjamena which came close to overthrowing Deby before government forces managed to rally and rout the insurgents.

"This time it seems serious. They both need it right now," a diplomat said last month on condition of anonymity on normalization of relations between the two states.

"Chad is heading towards legislative elections in November and presidential elections in April 2011, while elections in Sudan are scheduled for April and a referendum (on southern independence) in January 2011," the diplomat said.

Improved ties between Khartoum and Ndjamena are also seen as a major step towards securing peace in Darfur.

Sudanese foreign minister Deng Alor expressed the hope Deby's visit would contribute to progress in indirect talks under way in the Qatari capital, Doha, between the Khartoum government and Darfur rebels.

"This visit is going definitely to have a positive impact on the Doha talks," he said.

Beshir praised Deby's "positive efforts" in supporting the Doha peace process which aims to end the conflict in Darfur where the United Nations says about 300,000 people have died since ethnic rebels revolted in 2003.

Khartoum puts the death toll at 10,000.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37109.