Sudan border: 'Hundred killed' in Chad clashes April 24 & 28

'Hundred killed' in Chad clashes
From BBC - 08:18 GMT, Friday, 30 April 2010 09:18 UK - excerpt:

Chad's government says the army has killed 105 insurgents and beaten back a new attack near the Sudan border, but the rebels have denied the claims.

FPRN leader Adoum Yacoub said both sides had lost lives but did not give any details.

"Our security forces... completely control the entire zone," said Chad's Information Minister Kedallah Younous, admitting that one soldier had been killed and eight wounded.

There are no independent reports from the area, which borders Sudan's volatile Darfur region.

Over 100 dead as Chad rebels clash with government
From RFI - Thursday, 29 April 2010 by RFI ‎- excerpt:

Two battles have taken place between the Chadian army and rebels in the east of the country near the Sudanese border. According to the government, 105 FPRN (Front Populaire pour la Renaissance Nationale) rebels and nine soldiers died in the fighting.

The minister of information Kedallah Younous announced on Wednesday evening that 80 rebels who were injured in the fighting were taken prisoner.

The FPRN is a member of the union of resistance forces, a coalition of insurgent organisations who are hostile to President Idriss Deby's government.

The union announced after the first battle on 24 April that the rebels had defeated the government forces, killing many soldiers and taking their weapons.

It has not issued a statement after the second battle, which took place on Wednesday. Neither battle has been independently verified.

Chad clash kills more than 100 rebels, soldiers
From (Xinhua) People's Daily Online - Thursday, 29 ‎April 2010‎ 20:54:

Gun battles in eastern Chad have killed more than 100 rebels and at least nine soldiers in the past week, according to information reaching here on Thursday from N'Djamena.

Fighting erupted on Saturday and Wednesday in Tamassi in the vicinity of the border with Sudan, state radio reported, citing Information Minister Kedallah Younous.

The Chadian army also captured dozens of members of the FPRN rebel group, which has been fighting against President Idriss Deby, according to the report.

106 killed in Chad clashes: government spokesman
From AFP - ‎Thursday, 29 April, 2010:

N'DJAMENA — Clashes in eastern Chad between the army and insurgents at the weekend claimed the lives of 105 rebels and one government soldier, the government spokesman said Thursday.

The fighting which started Saturday and continued until Monday claimed "105 lives and led to 62 rebels taken captive," said Kedellah Younous, who doubles up as communications minister.

"The army has lost a martyr and has eight men injured," he added.

The Popular Front for National Renaissance (PFNR), the only rebel movement currently operating inside the country, spoke of loss of life on both sides in the clashes.

The PFNR rebel chief Adoum Yacoub did not elaborate on the number of dead.

At the beginning of April, Chadian mediator Abderaman Moussa met rebel representatives in Sudan, and it was agreed to meet again in the first half of May.

Chadian army clashes with rebels
From Washington Post - Thursday, April 29, 2010; 9:52 AM
By Moumine Ngarmbassa (Reuters)
Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Giles Elgood - excerpt:

(N'DJAMENA) - Chad's government says its army killed more than 100 rebels and lost nine soldiers in two gun battles in eastern Chad this week, but the rebels say they inflicted heavy losses on the government forces.

The renewed violence in the east of oil-producing Chad comes amid N'Djamena's efforts to see United Nations peacekeepers leave the country ahead of elections, and improving ties with Sudan, which it previously accused of backing the rebels.

"Our security forces ... completely control the entire zone," Chad's Information Minister Kedallah Younous said.

The army also took 80 wounded rebels prisoner in the clash, which took place around Tamassi, near Chad's eastern border with Sudan, he said in a statement on state radio late on Wednesday.

The rebels involved in the fighting on April 24 and April 28 were from Adam Yacoub's FPRN rebel group, which is part of a coalition of insurgents that have been fighting against Chadian President Idriss Deby's government.

The UFR rebel coalition issued a statement after the April 24 clash, claiming the FPRN had defeated the army, inflicted heavy losses on government soldiers and recuperated weapons.

There was no independent version of events.

Yacoub's rebels are based in Chad, but other anti-Deby forces have launched assaults on Chad from Sudan. Over the last six years, Sudanese rebels have also used Chad's lawless east to launch attacks in Sudan's Darfur region..

The warming of relations between Chad and Sudan had led to talks between Chad's government and rebels.

But the UFR rebels called on all Chadian factions to provide military support to the FPRN forces, and warned Deby against trying to use violence to resolve Chad's problems.

This week's violence in Chad comes as the government and the United Nations agreed on winding down the number of U.N. peacekeepers in Chad to 1,900 from a full strength mission of over 5,000.

Chad, which will hold legislative elections this year and a presidential poll in 2011, has been pushing for the U.N. force, still in the process of deploying, to shut down. [...]