A company of 150 French soldiers were sent to Libreville in Gabon on Wednesday to reinforce the 1, 200-strong French troops deployed in Chad, where the authorities are facing an escalation of rebel attacks.

The French staff is worrying about the attack of the rebel United Front for Change (FUC), but the French forces stationing in Chad were not sufficient in providing intelligence support to the "legitimately elected" Chadian regime, under existing cooperation accords, the French military said.

The French Foreign Ministry said that the French disposition in Chad was made under the state of alert.

According to a source from the French army, Chadian rebels leading an offensive to oust Chadian President Isdriss Deby Itno are moving on N'Djamena and are now about one and a half hours from the capital. "It would seem that there have been clashes between rebel forces and Chadian soldiers," it said.

The Chadian government said Wednesday that its troops recaptured the eastern town of Mongo just hours after it was seized by rebels.

"The town of Mongo is under the control of the Chadian army since 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) yesterday (Tuesday) evening," said Chad's Defense Minister Bichara Issa Djadallah.

"The situation is under control. The rebels' plan is suicidal, they are encircled everywhere," he said.

But an FUC spokesman said: "Mongo has not been retaken by the Chadian army, it is completely false."

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan declared Tuesday he was "deeply concerned" over the escalation in fighting and its spillover into the Central African Republic (CAR).

Source: Xinhua