Rage Against France as they allegedly bomb towns in Chad
April 13 2006
Paris - A Chadian rebel leader alleged that French fighter planes on Thursday bombed several rebel-held towns in eastern Chad, causing an unknown number of civilian casualties.
"We have just learned that since this morning, in eastern Chad, French army aircraft have been carrying out a military intervention," the representative in France for the United Front for Change (FUC), former Chadian foreign minister Laona Gong, said.
"We deplore the numerous civilian victims of the French bombings in the towns of Adre and Moudeina", he said, without giving a precise number of casualties.
Gong charged that France "is not remaining neutral" and accused it of lending "blind" support to the regime of President Idriss Deby Itno.
France 'is not remaining neutral'
Separately, the French defence ministry said that a French Mirage jet had fired "warning shots" on Wednesday morning towards a rebel column advancing on the capital N'Djamena from the east.
France, which already has 1 200 soldiers in the country, on Wednesday ordered another 150 there in response to the worsening security situation that has triggered alarm across the international community.
Paris has said its forces are not involved in fighting the rebels.
The FUC rebels, which are seeking to oust Deby, were battling government troops on Thursday on the outskirts of N'Djamena, and a number of them had entered the capital, military sources said. |
