Tag Archives: Chad

Cameroonian refugees cross river to Chad as carnage displaces thousands

By Mahamat Ramadane

KOUNDOUL, Chad (Reuters) – Cameroonian farmer Saleh Abderamane was bleeding from a machete wound to his head when his relatives ferried him across the river border to Chad among thousands of refugees fleeing violence between farmers and herders.

The 34-year-old was attacked during a spate of fighting fueled by water disputes in the Far North region that has driven 48,000 people to seek refuge in Chad so far this month, according to Chadian authorities.

“I nearly died far out in the bush but luckily my relatives found me and took me across the river,” said Abderamane at a camp on the outskirts of Chad’s capital N’Djamena.

A bloodstained bandage swathed the entire crown of his head.

“We can’t go back there soon because even if the other communities don’t kill us, we would die of hunger,” he said, recalling the destruction of food stores, markets and fields.

Refugees, mostly women and children, are still trying to reach Chad, crossing the rivers Chari and Logone on rickety boats. Exhausted new arrivals to one of the camps were greeted with tears and wails of recognition from friends and relatives.

The number of such refugees has risen 60% in the past week, putting substantial pressure on local communities which were already facing food shortages, said Chad’s Minister of Territorial Administration Mahamat Bechir Chérif.

The refugees are staying in informal camps along the river bank outside the capital. Lacking proper shelter, they sleep in the open air. Teary-eyed children line up in the midday sun for meals from the local Red Cross.

Chad is already home to close to 1 million refugees and internally displaced people and its resources to respond to their needs are critically low, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said.

The agency, which is responding to the crisis, said the situation in the Far North region remained volatile, although security forces had been sent in an effort to restore calm.

At least 22 people have been killed since the clashes broke out in early December following disputes between Arab Choa herders and Mousgoum and Massa farmers and fishermen, local authorities said last week.

Similar violence in August killed dozens of people and forced thousands to flee to Chad.

(Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Two dead, 27 hurt as Chad protesters demand civilian rule

By Edward McAllister and Mahamat Ramadane

N’DJAMENA (Reuters) -At least two people were killed and 27 injured in Chad on Tuesday as demonstrators took to the streets demanding a return to civilian rule after the military took control following President Idriss Deby’s death last week.

Tensions have risen in Chad following Deby’s death and the military transition is struggling to win over a population exhausted by 30 years of monolithic, autocratic rule.

A health official at a hospital in the capital N’Djamena, who requested anonymity, confirmed the death of a man in his 20’s who was brought into the emergency ward along with 27 other people injured during Tuesday’s protests.

Witnesses also reported the death of another protester in Moundou, Chad’s second largest city.

A spokesman for the ruling military council said security forces were attempting to contain the protesters while limiting material damage.

The military council seized power after Deby was killed as he visited troops fighting rebels on April 19.

Some opposition politicians have called the military takeover a coup and asked supporters to protest, even as the army appointed a civilian politician, Albert Pahimi Padacke, as prime minister of a transitional government on Monday.

The military council banned protests in a statement on Monday evening, saying no demonstrations that could lead to disorder were allowed while the country was still in mourning.

‘NO MONARCHY’

Headed by Deby’s son Mahamat Idriss Deby, who was declared president, the military council has said it will oversee an 18-month transition to elections.

“We do not want our country to become a monarchy,” said 34-year-old protester Mbaidiguim Marabel. “The military must return to the barracks to make way for a civilian transition.”

Trucks loaded with soldiers were seen patrolling the streets around central N’Djamena.

“The police came, they fired tear gas. But we are not scared,” said Timothy Betouge, age 70.

Police responded with tear gas as protesters burned tires in several neighborhoods of N’Djamena early on Tuesday. A Reuters witness said firefighters struggled to contain a blaze which was large enough to be seen from far away.

The council is coming under international pressure to hand over power to civilians as soon as possible. The African Union has expressed “grave concern” about the military takeover, while France, the former colonial ruler, and some of Chad’s neighbors are pushing for a civilian-military solution.

Anti-French sentiment was running high among the protesters, who blamed France for having backed the Deby regime against the will of the people. Posts on social media showed protesters burning a French flag.

Reuters reporters in N’Djamena were repeatedly berated by protesters who assumed they were French and told them to “go back to France”. The reporters saw businesses with French connections, such as a Total fuel station, being targeted by protesters.

Deby’s death came as Chad’s military battles an insurrection by Libya-based rebels known as the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT). The rebels came as close as 200-300 km (125-185 miles) from N’Djamena before being pushed back by the army.

Chad’s military council rejected an offer from the rebels for peace talks on Sunday, calling them “outlaws” who needed to be tracked down and arrested for their role in Deby’s death.

(Reporting by Edward McAllister and Mahamat Ramadane, additional reporting by Madjiasra Nako, writing by Cooper Inveen, editing by Bate Felix, William Maclean and Estelle Shirbon)

Chad in turmoil after Deby death as rebels, opposition challenge military

By Madjiasra Nako and Mahamat Ramadane

N’DJAMENA (Reuters) – The son of Chad’s slain leader Idriss Deby took over as president and armed forces commander on Wednesday as rebel forces threatened to march on the capital, deepening the turmoil in a country vital to international efforts to combat Islamist militants in Africa.

The political opposition also denounced the military’s takeover of control, calling the move a coup d’etat and rejecting its plan for a transition. Labor unions called for a workers’ strike.

Deby, 68, was killed on Monday on the frontline in a battle against fighters of the Libyan-based Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), a rebel group formed by dissident army officers.

His death shocked the nation and raised concerns among Western allies, notably France and the United States, who had counted on him as an ally in their fight against Islamist groups including Islamic State and Boko Haram.

Deby had been in power since 1990 and had just been declared winner of a presidential election that would have given him a sixth term in office. His son, General Mahamat Idriss Deby, was named interim president by a transitional council of military officers.

General Deby, 37, moved to consolidate his position on Wednesday, with the council issuing a new charter in place of the country’s constitution granting him the functions of president and also naming him as head of the armed forces.

In his first public comments since taking power, Deby said the army wanted to return power to a civilian government and hold free and democratic elections in 18 months.

“The military council has no ambition to govern the country alone,” he said in a speech to political party representatives, posted on the presidency website.

“The Transitional Military Council will work to consolidate democracy, assure peace and stability, guarantee security and the integrity of the national territory.”

The military also announced it had re-opened Chad’s borders, which were closed after Deby’s death.

The FACT rebels rejected the military’s plan and said on Wednesday that a pause in hostilities they are observing to give time for Deby to be buried would end at midnight.

“The forces of national resistance are more than ever determined to deliver the Chadian people from this abominable dictatorship,” they said in a statement.

The statement also warned foreign heads of state against going to Deby’s funeral on Friday “for imperatives of security”. French President Emmanuel Macron plans to attend, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

OVER THE BORDER

A spokesman for FACT – which is not linked to jihadists – said its forces were now in Kanem region about 200-300 km (125-190 miles) north of N’Djamena and their aim was to bring democracy to Chad after years of authoritarian rule by Deby.

The fighters poured over the vast country’s northern border last weekend.

“We don’t want to seize power to hold power. Our objective is for democratic transitions to be a reality,” the spokesman said. He said the group was preparing to march on N’Djamena to “free the people from a system that is undemocratic”.

FACT claimed responsibility for the injuries that killed Deby on Monday. An ex-army officer who often joined soldiers on the battlefront, Deby was visiting troops who had held up the rebel advance in intense fighting over the weekend.

He was wounded by gunfire in the village of Mele near the town of Nokou, more than 300 km (190 miles) north of N’Djamena, and evacuated to the capital where he later died, the FACT spokesman said. The presidency has not commented on the exact circumstances of his death.

Opposition politicians, many of whom boycotted the election, and civil society organisations also called for a return to civilian rule, while a coalition of other armed groups demanded an inclusive national dialogue.

In a joint statement, about a dozen party leaders condemned what they called “the institutional coup d’etat conducted by the generals” and called for a civilian transition.

The main labor organization, the Union of Syndicates of Chad, also rejected the military takeover and called for a strike.

FRENCH FRIENDS

Deby had won friends abroad by sending his well-trained army to fight jihadists including Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin and groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State in the Sahel.

His main ally, France, has about 5,100 troops based across the region as part of international efforts to fight the militants, including its main base in N’Djamena. The United States also has military personnel there.

Regional powerhouse Nigeria’s foreign minister said it was willing to help facilitate dialogue, but that while an early return to democratic rule was the ultimate goal, the immediate objective was the stabilization of Chad and the region.

Human Rights Watch criticized the West’s relationship with Deby, saying that for years it had propped up Deby’s government while turning a blind eye to his repression. In a statement, it warned of the “potentially explosive consequences” of Deby’s death for Chad and the region.

In N’Djamena, where authorities imposed a nightly curfew after Deby’s death, schools and some businesses were open on Wednesday but many people stayed home and streets were quiet.

A 14-day period of national mourning is being observed.

“We must make sure that this military council does not take over power,” said Djimadoum Ngarteri, a teacher, calling for all sides to lay down weapons. “We Chadians are fed up. We do not need people who take power with weapons.”

(Reporting by Madjiasra Nako and Mahamat Ramadane in N’Djamena, Nellie Peyton, Aaron Ross and Edward McAllister in Dakar, writing by Angus MacSwan, editing by Nick Tattersall, William Maclean)

Yemen city on the brink of famine, U.N. agency warns

Residents of one Yemen city are on the brink of famine, a United Nations agency warned Monday, as violent conflicts have prevented humanitarian workers from supplying food.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said it delivered food to Al Qahira, a besieged area of the Taiz governorate, on Saturday, bringing enough food to last 18,000 people for one month. But it said Taiz remains at an “emergency” level on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification scale, one step below famine, and workers must be allowed to continue to deliver aid there.

The WFP said it has been delivering food to some parts of Taiz since December, though fighting between Houthi militants and government forces has complicated the agency’s efforts to move the supplies to the people in need. In a news release, it said about 20 percent of households in Taiz don’t have enough food, and many are facing “life-threatening rates of acute malnutrition.”

Taiz is far from the only Yemen city affected by fighting.

The UN says about 21.2 million of the country’s 26 million residents need some humanitarian aid, a 33 percent increase since violence erupted last March. The WFP says approximately 7.6 million Yemen residents are now “severely food insecure,” which requires urgent assistance.

Other countries are also in need of aid.

On Tuesday, the WFP said it was planning to deliver food this month to 35,000 people who have been affected by Boko Haram’s violent insurgency in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger. In a statement, the agency said it recently supplied food to 5,000 people in Chad for the first time.

“We were told that people have been really struggling to survive. Some said that they have been surviving only on maize for weeks,” Mary-Ellen McGroarty, the WFP’s Country Director for Chad, said in a statement announcing the increased humanitarian efforts. “We have started distributions at five sites where the needs are most critical and we are working to reach others.”

The WFP said some 5.6 million people are facing hunger as a result of Boko Haram’s violence, which has prompted 2.8 million people to flee their homes — 400,000 since December alone.

Last week, the WFP issued warnings about the food situations in South Sudan and Haiti, saying that about 6 million people in those countries were facing food insecurity. That included 40,000 residents of war-torn South Sudan that UN agencies said were “on the brink of catastrophe.”

Violent Conflicts Force 1 Million African Children Out of School

Violent conflicts in Africa, fueled by the Boko Haram insurgency, have forced more than 1 million children out of school, the United Nations Children’s Fund reported Tuesday.

The organization, commonly known as UNICEF, reported that the children have been forced out of class in northeastern Nigeria and the neighboring nations of Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

UNICEF said that total doesn’t include the 11 million kids in those four countries who were already out of school before Boko Haram began its insurgency six years ago. According to the Global Terrorism Index, the Islamic extremist group killed more people last year (6,644) than any other terrorist organization — including the Islamic State, to which it has pledged allegiance.

But Boko Haram is only partly responsible for the violence in Nigeria.

Fulani militants, who use often violent tactics to control grazing land for their livestock, killed 1,229 people last year, according to the Global Terrorism Index. Because Nigeria houses two of the world’s five deadliest terrorist groups, the country had 7,512 terrorism-related deaths last year. That was more than any other country but Iraq, which established a record with 9,929.

According to UNICEF, more than 2,000 schools are closed in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger. The organization says hundreds of them have been set ablaze, looted or otherwise attacked, and that some of the closures have stretched on for more than a year. In Cameroon, for example, UNICEF reported that 135 schools closed in 2014 and only one of them has reopened.

Part of the reason for the lengthy closures is that there’s a fear of future terrorist attacks. UNICEF reported that 600 Nigerian teachers have died during the Boko Haram insurgency.

Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF’s regional director in West and Central Africa, said in a statement that many children are now at risk of dropping out of school entirely as a result of the violence.

“The challenge we face is to keep children safe without interrupting their schooling,” Fontaine said in a statement. “Schools have been targets of attack, so children are scared to go back to the classroom; yet the longer they stay out of school, the greater the risks of being abused, abducted and recruited by armed groups.”

UNICEF said it’s taken some steps to help educate children in the region, like establishing some temporary learning spaces and expanding some schools, but they’ve reached less than 200,000 kids. Security issues and funding shortages have complicated the group’s outreach efforts.

UNICEF said it will need about $23 million to educate children in the four countries next year.

Boko Haram Launches First Attack On Chad Village

Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has launched their first attack on the nation of Chad.

Militants attacked a village on the shore of Lake Chad early Friday morning.  The village of Ngouboua was raided leaving many residents dead although local officials could not say the total number of the dead.

“The assailants have scattered and the army is now pursuing them,” army Col. Azem Bermandoa told The Associated Press by telephone.

Chad has been the largest supporter of Nigerian troops in their battle against the Islamists.  Boko Haram leaders had been warning they were going to be launching attacks on those who had been supporting their opposition.

Chad is also working with Niger, Cameroon and Benin to start a multi-national force to fight the terrorists.  The official launch of the unit is expected in the next few weeks.

Boko Haram likely chose the city because it was a refuge for Nigerians who had fled the terrorists.  The U.N. says at least 3,300 refugees were in the village.

Boko Haram Proclaims 20,000 Square Mile Caliphate

The extremist group Boko Haram has announced they are mimicking ISIS in declaring their own Islamic caliphate.  The group aims to claim parts of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Dr. David Curry of Open Doors USA said during an event sponsored by the Family Research Council that people are underestimating the brutality of the terror group.

Curry said that in Nigeria alone, over 2,200 Christians were killed by the group in 2014 just for their faith in Christ.  He also said the estimate is low because there are many other deaths at the hands of Boko Haram they have not been able to verify as being motivated by the Christian faith of the victim.

He said that Boko Haram already controls a part of Nigeria the size of Belgium.

“Nigeria has been experiencing attacks much like the Iraqis were facing just a few years ago,” Curry explained. “You have Boko Haram, which has a very similar Al-Qaeda, Islamic State ideology, they have been making attacks, bombings, like you have seen on churches. Now all of a sudden they are beginning to take territory.

“There is a common-path pattern here,” Curry added. “First, individual attacks, then bombings, then the conquering of territory and attacking of civilian sites like army bases and these sorts of things.”

The governments of Chad and Cameroon said Wednesday they have been actively using their military powers against Boko Haram and have killed 250 terrorists this week.

African Forces Take First City In Mali

Chad military forces seized the city of Kidal in northern Mali, marking the first time an all-African force has captured a city in the battle against Islamic terrorists, according to French military forces.

The French army has seized and controlled the Kidal airport but the 1,800 Chad troops have captured the bulk of the city forcing the Islamists to flee toward the nearby mountains. Continue reading →