It’s been reported for months that the Janjaweed continue to hound and pursue the civilian population of Darfur, but yesterday the Sudanese forces were abruptly confronted by angered Chadian forces. With Libya supplying arms and material to militias in Sudan (for cross-border attacks into Chad) and Sudan supplying arms to rebels inside Chad (particularly the Chad National Concord), it’s not surprising that tensions have continued to grow in the wake of the crisis in Darfur.
Chad’s government accused Sudan’s government-backed Janjaweed militia of involvement in those attacks, but that could not be confirmed.
Chad and Sudan blame each other for supporting rebels in their respective countries. Both have refused the deployment of a UN-mandated force to patrol their border.
“Sudan has not abandoned its sinister project of destabilising Chad,” the government said Monday, calling on the population “to rally more than ever behind the defence and security forces to preserve their democratic gains, and guarantee sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The government statement added that N’Djamena “expects the international community to condemn unequivocally this aggression against Chad from inside Sudan and take appropriate measures to force the Sudanese government to abandon its expansionist and destabilising aims in Chad.”
Both of the countries are currently apologizing for the clash, even while they continue to blame each other for fueling internal violence in their respective nations.