International Medical Corps treats casualties of latest fighting in Chad
Website: http://www.imcworldwide.org
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
International Medical Corps teams in eastern Chad were treating casualties late Friday in Guereda after anti-government forces took control of town following several hours of fighting. Reports from IMC sources in Guereda indicated about 80 persons were wounded in the battle that began earlier in the day Friday.
As darkness fell Friday and fighting subsided, government forces appeared to have withdrawn from the town and rebel troops from the Tama tribe claimed to be in control. They ordered members of all international relief groups to remain in their compounds and were patrolling the streets in search of stragglers.
The wounded were delivered to Guereda Hospital, where they were being treated by IMC medical teams. IMC operates the hospital, which is the town's only medical facility. It was impossible to determine how many had died in the fighting, according to sources in the town. A second medical team has been requested.
IMC staff members at the hospital report they are running short of anesthesia. Plans were underway for a possible air evacuation of all non-essential staff of international organizations as early as tomorrow. In addition to IMC, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), CARE, and Christian Children's Fund and a Chadian non-government group, Secadev, are located in Guereda.
According to reports from the town, after two to three hours of heavy fighting, rebel emissaries visited international humanitarian groups under a white flag, claiming they intended no harm to foreigners.
Guereda is located just 25 miles west of the frontier with Darfur and the Chadian government has accused Khartoum of supporting the rebels. Last month, Chadian rebels briefly captured another eastern town, Abeche. The unrest has added to the broader instability in the region that includes Darfur, where as many as 3 million people have been affected by a 3-year-old conflict between Sudanese government forces and anti-government rebels.
In Chad, IMC offers primary health care and nutrition services for 58,000 refugees from Darfur, (approximately 20% of the total refugee population) in three campsĀKounoungo, Mille and Am NabakĀas well as for thousands of Chadians in the surrounding host communities. IMC also operates a series of primary health clinics in West and South Darfur, providing medical care to a population of about one quarter of a million persons.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
