Dozens killed in new clashes in northern Chad

At least 35 people, including six soldiers, were killed today in northwestern Chad in a new clash between the regular Army and the rebel group Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (CCMSR), according to military sources the Army, whose figures were denied by the insurgents.

"Our soldiers were surprised, but they reacted quickly and defeated the members of the CCMSR," Colonel Adoum Nour, commander-in-chief of the operations in the area of the clashes, told EFE.

The attack began this morning at around 5.00 local time (4.00 GMT), when the rebels stormed a Chadian army post near the town of Kouri-Bougoudi, in the province of Tibesti.

"I can tell you that 29 of them died, but, unfortunately, we lost six of our men," he added.

For his part, one of the leaders of the insurgents, Captain Abdallah Cherif, assured EFE that they "did not lose" 29 of their members.

"That is not true. We'll take stock later. We are still on the ground," he said.

On August 18, at least 27 people were killed in fighting between the CCMSR and the army in a nearby area, tensions that forced the president of the Chadian transition, General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, to travel to the province.

Chad has dozens of rebel groups that threaten the stability of the country, based mainly in the south of neighboring Libya and in the north of Chad.

In April 2021, President Idriss Déby Itno, who had led Chad with an iron fist since 1991, was killed during clashes between the Chadian army and the rebel group Front for Alternation and Concord in Chad.