Chad rebels attack town, EU troops shield refugees

By Finbarr O'Reilly

GOZ-BEIDA, Chad (Reuters) - Rebels on the offensive in east Chad on Saturday attacked a town ringed by refugee camps but stayed away from European Union troops protecting thousands of civilians, witnesses and rebel spokesmen said.

The attack on Goz-Beida, 70 km (40 miles) by road from Chad's eastern border with Sudan's Darfur region, came on the third day of what rebel forces say is their latest offensive westwards aimed at trying to overthrow President Idriss Deby.

Witnesses reported heavy fighting, in which smoke rose from the town and fire from machineguns and heavy weapons was heard.

A heavily-armed column of rebel vehicles was visible from a hill 12 km (seven miles) away entering Goz-Beida, but then left a few hours later.

Goz-Beida is surrounded by United Nations-run camps housing tens of thousands of Sudanese and Chadian refugees. They are being protected by an Irish infantry battalion serving with an EU military force (EUFOR) that deployed in east Chad this year.

"There has been fighting around our compound in Goz-Beida ... but it's calmed down now," Aimee Ansari, program manager for Oxfam Great Britain at Goz-Beida, told Reuters. No details of casualties were immediately available.

Spokesmen for the rebel National Alliance, speaking by phone, said Goz-Beida was under the control of rebel forces and that other insurgent columns were moving westwards. But there was no immediate independent confirmation of these movements.

The Irish troops at Goz-Beida took up defensive positions to carry out their mandate to protect civilians and refugees. But no clashes were reported with the rebels, who appeared to have only targeted Chadian government soldiers.

"We have troops between Djabal refugee camp and the fighting in town and the (humanitarian) NGOs are sitting tight. It's best they stay put as there is still fighting and it's a bit ropey in town," Commandant Stephen Morgan of the Irish 97th Infantry Battalion earlier told Reuters during the fighting.

"We have no desire to clash with EUFOR forces as long as they remain neutral," rebel spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah, whose Democratic Union for Change (UDC) group belongs to the insurgent alliance, told Reuters by telephone from France.

TURBANNED REBEL FIGHTERS

Former colonial power France, which has warplanes and troops in Chad and strongly backed President Deby when he survived an earlier fierce rebel assault on the capital N'Djamena in February, said it was following the situation in the east.

"Any armed action targeting Chad and its institutions can only be condemned by France and the international community," the French Foreign ministry said in Paris. It called on all parties in the conflict to seek a "political solution".

Before the assault on Goz-Beida the attacking rebel column had up to 100 pick-up trucks.

Some of the vehicles had machine-guns mounted on the back, others carried rebel fighters, their heads and faces swathed in turbans against the dust, holding automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. They waved and cheered.