War and Conflict Journal

Chadian rebels clash with gov’t forces in capital; head toward presidential palace–Associated Press, February 2, 2008

Hundreds of rebels penetrated the capital of Chad today, clashing with government troops and moving on the presidential palace after a three-day advance through the oil-producing central African nation, officials and witnesses said.

Chad’s ambassador to Ethiopia said the capital had not fallen and that President Idriss Deby was "fine" in his palace.

"The situation is under control," ambassador Cherif Mahamat Zene told The Associated Press. "The head of state is fine in his palace … It’s true that there are some rebels who have entered the city, but to say the city has fallen is false."

A French military spokesman, Col. Thierry Burkhard, said that Chadian government forces were pushing rebels away from the presidential palace but that the outcome of the fighting today remained unclear. To read the rest of the story, click the link above.