Chad:Rebels in Chad claimed support yesterday from fighters loyal to a defence minister sacked at the weekend, and threatened more attacks after both sides said hundreds were killed in the country's worst fighting for months.
President Idriss Deby sacked minister Mahamat Nour Abdelkerim, a former rebel named defence minister in March after a previous peace deal, on Saturday after the minister sought refuge at the Libyan embassy in the Chadian capital N'Djamena.
Nour's position was weakened when fighters from his Tama-dominated ex-rebel United Front for Change (FUC) deserted the army in October and fought government troops and militia from Deby's rival Zaghawa clan who were trying to disarm them. Army troops and ex-FUC fighters clashed again on Friday.
EU peacekeepers, including an Irish contingent, are due to deploy to eastern Chad in the coming weeks to protect aid operations for about 400,000 civilians forced from their homes by fighting in Chad and Darfur.