U.S. Embassy Withdraws Staff As Chad Rebels Advance

The United States has ordered its non-essential staff in Chad to
leave the African country as rebel fighters approached the capital
on Sunday after early election results showed President Idriss Deby
on course to extend his three-decade rule.

Mr Deby, who seized power in 1990 at the head of an armed
rebellion, is a staunch ally of France and the United States in the
fight against Islamist militants in the arid Sahel region.

“Due to their growing proximity to N’Djamena and the possibility
for violence in the city, non-essential U.S. government employees
have been ordered to leave Chad by commercial airline,” the U.S.
state department said in a statement.

The British government on Saturday urged its citizens to leave
because, it said, two armed convoys from the rebel Front for Change
and Concord in Chad (FACT) were advancing towards the capital.

One convoy was seen approaching the town of Mao, about 220 km
(137 miles) to the north of N’Djamena, it said.

Large numbers of heavily armed Chad security forces were
patrolling the streets of the capital on Sunday morning, a Reuters
witness said.

Chad’s army said it had destroyed a rebel convoy in the north of
Kanem province on Saturday afternoon.

“The column was totally decimated,” army spokesman Azim
Bermandoa Agouna said in a statement late on Saturday.

Partial provisional results have given Mr Deby a strong lead in
the April 11 poll despite signs of growing discontent over his
handling of the nation’s oil wealth.

Mr Deby, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, has
successfully put down a string of rebellions since taking power,
sometimes with military assistance from France.

French air strikes helped the Chad army to repel a rebel
incursion from Libya in February 2019.

FACT, which is based on Chad’s northern frontier in Libya,
attacked a Chadian border post on the evening of April 11, just as
polling stations were closing.

On Friday FACT said it had seized a garrison of Gouri in the
country’s north.

“The enemy, despite the logistical support of the French Air
Force, was totally routed,” FACT spokesperson, Kingabe Ogouzeimi de
Tapol, said in a statement posted on Facebook.

France’s defence ministry on Sunday declined to comment on
whether it was involved.

Reuters

The United States has ordered its non-essential staff in Chad to
leave the African country as rebel fighters approached the capital
on Sunday after early election results showed President Idriss Deby
on course to extend his three-decade rule.

Mr Deby, who seized power in 1990 at the head of an armed
rebellion, is a staunch ally of France and the United States in the
fight against Islamist militants in the arid Sahel region.

“Due to their growing proximity to N’Djamena and the possibility
for violence in the city, non-essential U.S. government employees
have been ordered to leave Chad by commercial airline,” the U.S.
state department said in a statement.

The British government on Saturday urged its citizens to leave
because, it said, two armed convoys from the rebel Front for Change
and Concord in Chad (FACT) were advancing towards the capital.

One convoy was seen approaching the town of Mao, about 220 km
(137 miles) to the north of N’Djamena, it said.

Large numbers of heavily armed Chad security forces were
patrolling the streets of the capital on Sunday morning, a Reuters
witness said.

Chad’s army said it had destroyed a rebel convoy in the north of
Kanem province on Saturday afternoon.

“The column was totally decimated,” army spokesman Azim
Bermandoa Agouna said in a statement late on Saturday.

Partial provisional results have given Mr Deby a strong lead in
the April 11 poll despite signs of growing discontent over his
handling of the nation’s oil wealth.

Mr Deby, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, has
successfully put down a string of rebellions since taking power,
sometimes with military assistance from France.

French air strikes helped the Chad army to repel a rebel
incursion from Libya in February 2019.

FACT, which is based on Chad’s northern frontier in Libya,
attacked a Chadian border post on the evening of April 11, just as
polling stations were closing.

On Friday FACT said it had seized a garrison of Gouri in the
country’s north.

“The enemy, despite the logistical support of the French Air
Force, was totally routed,” FACT spokesperson, Kingabe Ogouzeimi de
Tapol, said in a statement posted on Facebook.

France’s defence ministry on Sunday declined to comment on
whether it was involved.

Reuters