Africa: Chad accuses Sudan of wanting to “destabilize” it

Chad accuses Sudan of financing and arming rebel groups with the aim of “destabilizing” the country, in an official statement published Friday in N’Djamena.

“At present, Sudan is financing and arming terrorist groups operating in the sub-region with the aim of destabilizing Chad,” declares this press release from the Minister of Foreign Affairs and government spokesperson, Abdraman Koulamallah, denouncing a “subversive activity that continues”.

The presence in El Facher (southwest Sudan) of a Zaghawa rebellion led by Ousman Dillo, the younger brother of Chadian opponent Yaya Dillo Djérou killed by the Chadian army in the spring, is the main cause of concern for N’Djamena.

Long-standing litigation

In February 2008, a rebellion of the Chadian Zaghawa ethnic group based in Sudan launched a lightning offensive in Chad with other groups, forcing former President Idriss Déby Itno (1990-2021) to take refuge in his presidential palace before succeed in repelling the rebels with the decisive support of Paris.

“The latest rebellion, the FACT, is at the origin of the incursion which cost the life” of the ex-president, recalls the press release published Friday. Upon his death, his son Mahamat Idriss Déby was proclaimed transitional president by the army at the head of a junta of 15 generals in 2021. He was elected head of state this year.

One of these officers, General Mahamat Nour Abdelkerim, switched sides and was received with other rebel leaders in recent months by the Sudanese authorities, according to Ahmat Yacoub, the president of the Center for Development and Prevention Studies. of extremism.

10 million displaced

“Chad and Sudan are now in conflict, accusing each other of destabilization,” believes the researcher. At the end of October, N’Djamena denied any involvement in the Sudanese conflict, in response to new accusations about its active role in arms deliveries supplied by the United Arab Emirates.

This support for the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR), who have been fighting the regular Sudanese army since April 2023, has already been highlighted by various reports – including one from the UN in January 2024 -, but Chad like the Emirates have always denied any involvement.

The war in Sudan has left tens of thousands dead, with estimates ranging from 20,000 to 150,000, with most casualties going unrecorded, according to doctors. The conflict has also displaced more than 10 million people, or a fifth of the country’s population, including more than 3 million in neighboring countries, and created one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent memory, according to the Nations United.

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