Amid renewed tensions with Sudan, the Chadian national army has launched a " preemptive strike" against rebel positions in the volatile eastern part of the country where there are reports of increased rebel movements, French military sources have said.
"Three Chadian army helicopters took off from Abeche," French military sources said Friday, referring to the regional capital, adding that at least "one of the helicopters had fired a number of rockets before returning to its point of departure. "This information was confirmed by the commander of the European peacekeeping force (EUFOR) that is being deployed in eastern Chadand northeastern Central African Republic to protect refugees and the internally displaced.
The three helicopters, which were manufactured during the Soviet era, included a transport helicopter MI-171 and two MI-35attack helicopters and were all equipped with "rocket launchers," said an EUFOR source, who talked of a "resurgence in rebel activities."
Usually stationed in N'Djamena, the three choppers had been "pre-positioned" at Abeche and are involved in conducting operations in the region between Andre and Ade, along the common border with Sudan.
France has some 1,250 soldiers permanently stationed in Chad as part of Operation Epervier. Some of these troops, whose mission is different from that of the 1,200 French soldiers serving with the EUFOR, are stationed in Abeche.
The European Union has so far deployed 2,500 out of the 3,700soldiers expected for the one year United Nations-mandated peacekeeping mission that is aimed at facilitating humanitarian operations.
Speaking at a Friday meeting in Brussels, EUFOR Commander Gen. Patrick Irish Nash "spoke of an incident involving rebels this morning in eastern Chad, without giving any further details," according to a senior military source.
Chad and Sudan, two countries sharing a common border, have been at loggerheads accusing one another of supporting simmering rebellions in their respective territories.
On Sunday, in what marked an escalation in their often tense relations, the two countries severed all their diplomatic and economic ties after Sudan accused Chad of being behind an attack that was perpetrated by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a Darfur-based rebel group, near Khartoum on Saturday. Chad has denied all the accusations from Sudan.
In early February, Chadian rebels conducted an offensive that led them to N'Djamena where they failed to overthrow President Idriss Deby Itno before being repulsed during a massive counter-attack by the national army.
"During the last month, the Chadian army has greatly strengthened its positions near the eastern border" where "cross border infiltration" by the rebels has been observed, according to EUFOR military sources.
"The Chadians are obviously expecting a possible rebel attack before the rainy season and this time, they look determined to prevent the rebels from entering N'Djamena," said an EUFOR field commander, adding that the "European peacekeepers remain neutral." "We will definitely have to intervene if the rebels attack the civilian populations," said another commander, who once again stressed on the need for EUFOR to remain neutral in the simmering conflict.
Source: Xinhua
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