Chad issues “final warning” after troops killed in Sudan border

Chad announced on January 16th that seven of its soldiers had been killed during a confrontation along the country’s volatile border with Sudan, an area increasingly destabilised by the spillover of Sudan’s civil war.

A senior Chadian official blamed the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the powerful paramilitary group locked in a brutal conflict with the Sudanese army, for the deadly incident, according to Africanews via AFP on January 16th.

Government spokesman Gassim Cherif told reporters that an “incursion” took place on January 15th, when armed fighters crossed into Chad from Sudan. Chadian troops confronted the group and ordered them to leave, triggering a deadly exchange.

A government official later told press agency AFP that the fighters were “RSF elements”.

The Rapid Support Forces war with the Sudanese army has killed tens of thousands and displaced around 12 million people since the conflict erupted in April 2023. According to the United Nations, roughly one million Sudanese refugees have fled to Chad.

On December 26th, two Chadian soldiers were also killed in a drone strike at the border, with the attack being attributed to the RSF. Cherif said the latest confrontation occurred near the border city of Tine.

“We call on all parties in the conflict to stop all violations of Chadian territory,” he said. “This is our final warning,” he added. “We cannot have our defence and security forces dragged into the conflict… or Chadians dying.”

The United Arab Emirates, which has been accused of supporting the Rapid Support Forces, condemned the attack but did not directly blame the group. The RSF has carried out several operations near the Chadian border since October, after seizing El-Fasher, the Sudanese army’s last major stronghold in the Darfur region.

That offensive sparked international alarm, with reports emerging of mass killings, summary executions and systematic rape carried out by the RSF.

Africanews via AFP, Maghrebi.org