Dakar
18 June 2008
Chad's army chief says his soldiers have routed rebels, stopping theirlatest offensive in the east of the country, but the rebels say it is astrategic retreat. VOA's Nico Colombant reports from our West Africabureau in Dakar.
Chief of army staff General Touka Ramadan Koresays Chadian soldiers had won a decisive victory on the latestbattleground of Am-Zoer, pushing back rebels, killing more than 100,and taking dozens prisoner. He says several soldiers had been killed.
There was no independent confirmation of the army report.
Dakar-based rebel spokesman Makaila Nguebla says rebels retreated from Am-Zoer early Wednesday as part of a tactical move.
Hesays rebels are moving into towns and cities in eastern Chad to getsupplies and then leaving them, in a cat and mouse game with the armyto spread it thin. He says they plan to move through more easterntowns in the days ahead.
Nguebla admits there are divisionswithin the rebels, but says even the unarmed opposition is divided inChad. He says all opposition shares a common goal of removinglong-time President Idriss Deby and bringing about what he calledeffective democracy.
Mr. Deby and his army staff call the rebels"mercenaries backed by Sudan". Sudan accuses Chad of backing rebelsactive in the Darfur conflict. Journalists saw vehicles withinscriptions of Darfurian rebels in Am-Zoer.
A security analystat the U.S. based Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Bjoern Seibert,does not believe the rebels, who have bases in Sudan, aim to go toN'Djamena, as they did earlier this year when they nearly toppled Mr.Deby.
He says he thinks their aims are different at this point.
"Theycan show they can operate there, they can defeat government forces tosome extent in the east, but they can operate pretty freely," saidSeibert. "They also make it clear to [Mr.] Deby that their strength ismobility and speed, where the government forces are not stationed. Sothe government forces have to come out of their defensive camps andmeet the rebels. So it is going to be much harder to fight the rebelsin these cities, then actually if the rebels were to attack thegovernment in their camps."
Seibert says it is impressive howthe rebels have been able to resume their war campaign against Mr.Deby's forces, despite the presence of European peacekeepers known asEUFOR.
"The other message I think the rebels are sending andthat is more to the political side to what EUFOR is doing, they are notattacking refugees," he said. "They make it clear that even when therewas a small firefight with the Irish this was a mistake and this wasnot on purpose. So they are very careful in not antagonizing EUFOR."
Mr.Deby has accused EUFOR of cooperating with the rebels. But Europeanofficials say they are respecting their mandate, which is strictly toprotect hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced people fromconflicts in both Chad and Sudan.
Chad's army has alsoreceived help from the French military which has a permanent base inthe capital N'Djamena as part of post-colonial agreements. Frenchsoldiers also make up the majority of the EUFOR contingent.