New clashes along common border

Another round of hostilities erupted along the common border of the Central African Republic and Chad in the Chadian village of Tissi during the night of 19-20 September. A statement issued by the Chadian government read on Africa No. 1 Radio accused the CAR as being behind the attack. It added that the Chadian army killed one assailant, injured another and captured many others who claimed to have come from the CAR city of Birao, about 1,000 km northeast of the capital, Bangui. "Chad will not tolerate attacks from the CAR indefinitely," the statement said. However, the CAR army denied any responsibility for the attack. "These are gratuitous allegations," Gen Ernest Betibangui, Chief of Staff of the CAR army, told IRIN on Sunday. He said that CAR troops based in Birao did not notice any suspicious movement in the area. Betibangui instead blamed the attack on Sudanese poachers who are known in that region for their violence. "It is certainly Sudanese poachers who lost their way due to the rainy season and found themselves in Chad," he said. The city of Birao is near both the Chadian and the Sudanese borders. Relations between CAR and Chad have soured since November 2001 when former CAR army chief of staff, Gen Francois Bozize, fled to Chad after an armed resistance against government troops sent to arrest him in Bangui. The presence of Col Abdoulaye Miskine - whom the Chadian government believes to be a former Chadian rebel leader being protected by the CAR government as a soldier named "Martin Koumta-Madji", has further contributed to the escalation of animosity between the two nations. Repeated clashes have occurred in the border localities of Kabo, Batangafo and Moyenne Sido in CAR, as well as in Sido and now Tissi in Chad. The latest clashes come as a report on recent border clashes is expected from the joint Communaute Economique et Monetaire des Etats d'Afrique Centrale (CEMAC) - African Union - United Nations investigative mission, chaired by Gabon's President Omar Bongo.