Chad rebels withdraw from eastern town near Sudan
Source: Reuters
N'DJAMENA, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Chadian rebels opposed to President Idriss Deby withdrew on Saturday from an eastern town near the border with Sudan, just one day after briefly occupying it, humanitarian workers said. Rebel fighters from a coalition aiming to end Deby's 16-year rule in the oil-producing central African state withdrew early on Saturday from the town of Guereda, 30 km (19 miles) from the border with Sudan's Darfur region, aid workers said. The rebels took their wounded from the hospital, overflowing with more than 80 government soldiers and rebel fighters from Friday's clashes, and headed into the arid scrubland in a convoy of pickup trucks, the workers said. Chad's government, which accuses Sudan of backing the rebels, denied on Friday that they had captured the town. The rebels have launched a series of raids and offensives in eastern Chad this year, often striking with mobile columns of pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns and rocket launchers. Often they occupy towns and villages for just a few hours before melting away again into the desert or withdrawing to mountain hideouts. Last weekend's attack on Abeche, the most important town in eastern Chad, led to frenzied looting of shops and humanitarian stores. Aid workers in Guereda said their warehouses had been left untouched but expressed fears of pillaging unless the Chadian military arrived soon. Former colonial power France is giving the Chadian army logistical and intelligence support, provided by a French military contingent, including Mirage fighters stationed in the landlocked central African country.
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