Battle of N'Djamena (2006)

:For|other battles that occurred in N'Djamena|Battle of N'DjamenaInfobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of N'Djamena
partof=War in Chad (2005–present)


caption="Masked gunmen on a pickup truck near N'Djamena"
date=April 13, 2006
place=N'Djamena, Chad
result=Government victory
combatant1=United Front for Democratic Change
combatant2=Chad military
casualties3=400 deaths, 387 injured on both sides [ [http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B12D0B151-97F4-4503-86EF-2D955189C90C%7D)&language=EN Latin American News Agency Prensa Latina ] ] The Battle of N'Djamena was a battle between the forces of the revolutionary United Front for Democratic Change (UFCD) and the military of Chad that occurred on April 13, 2006 when rebel forces launched an assault on the capital of Chad in the pre-dawn hours, attempting to overthrow the government of President Idriss Déby Itno from their bases an estimated thousand miles east.

The battle occurred just months after serious Chad-Sudan tensions ended with the signing of the Tripoli Agreement. Déby broke off relations with the government of Sudan as a result, expelling its diplomats and threatened to stop sheltering thousands of Sudanese refugees from the Darfur region. [cite news | last=England | first=Andrew | title=Chad severs ties with Sudan | date=15 April 2006 | publisher=Financial Times| url=http://news.ft.com/cms/s/9d4087ea-cc1b-11da-a7bf-0000779e2340.html] . The Muslim-controlled government of Sudan has also been documented by the United Nations to have engaged in mass murder of approximately 100,000 non-Arab civilians in Darfur in the period 2003-2006 [ [http://www.un.org/News/dh/sudan/com_inq_darfur.pdf Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur to the United Nations Secretary-General] ,International Commission of Inquiry, 18 September 2004] .

The Battle

The rebels attempted to seize the National Assembly building, but the assault was easily repulsed by the much more heavily armed Chadian government forces. At least 350 people, including rebels, government forces and civilians, were killed in the fighting. 271 rebels were captured and paraded through the Place d'Independance the next day.

Reactions

Chad

President Déby blamed the attack on the government of neighboring Sudan, claiming that many of the attackers were either Sudanese backed by their government or residents of Chad conscripted by the Sudanese. Subsequently, he threatened to expel 200,000 Sudanese refugees sheltering in the east of the country after repeating accusations that Sudan supports rebels who launched a new offensive to oust him. Déby backed away from this threat on April 17, 2006. [cite news | first=Various writers | date=17 April 2006 | publisher=Sudan Tribune | title= Chad reassures UN, no expulsion of Darfur refugees | url=http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=15106]

Déby repeatedly has accused Sudan of hiring mercenaries to overthrow his government. Sudan has denied the accusation, and in turn has accused Chad of supporting fighters in its volatile Darfur region, where Arab militias and African rebels have fought for nearly three years.

Déby claimed that the rebel attack was designed to encourage a constitutional vacuum leading to civil war, by disrupting the forthcoming May 3 presidential election, an election in which President Déby, who had been Chad's leader for sixteen years, successfully ran for a third term. [cite news | last=Flynn | first=Daniel | title=Chad's leader accuses Sudan of waging war | date=18 April 2006 | publisher=The Scotsman | url=http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=588212006]

Déby dismissed the rebels as "petty mercenaries" and described the attack as "amateurish", saying that he was "not going anywhere". According to Déby, on the morning of the rebel attack, he "knew they were coming", and he and his wife Hinda were "listening to the cannon fire" while " [taking] our breakfast of strong coffee and warm croissant." [Emily Wax, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/01/AR2006050101503.html?nav=rss_world "New First Lady Captivates Chad"] , "The Washington Post", May 2, 2006, page A17.]

Other

The actions of the rebel forces were condemned by the United Nations Security Council. Secretary General Kofi Annan was quoted as saying he was "greatly troubled by the worsening security situation in Chad". [cite news | author=Various writers | title=UN condemns rebel attack in Chad | date=14 April 2006 | publisher=The Age | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4908836.stm]

The Central African Republic closed off its border with Sudan on 14 April saying that the rebels had crossed into its territory on their way to N'Djamena. [cite news | last=Lacey | first=Marc | title=After Battle in Capital, Chad Threatens to Expel Sudanese | date=15 April 2006 | publisher=New York Times | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/15/world/africa/15chad.html?_r=1&hp&ex=1145073600&en=59a6b0bdba8afcb1&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=slogin]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12306302/ Chad Breaks With Sudan After Rebel Attack] — MSNBC
* [http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=N14331793 U.S. urges Chad, Sudan to halt violence in region] — Reuters