Government denies fall of northern town

The Chadian government said on Tuesday that it was in control of the northern garrison town of Bardai, denying a claim by the rebel Mouvement pour la democratie et la justice au Tchad (MDJT) that it had fallen. “Contrary to the triumphalist-sounding communique issued by the MDJT, the government wishes to inform national and international opinion that its forces control Bardai garrison and fighting is continuing around it,” the Communications Ministry said in a communique. It added that the rebels were on the retreat. An official of the ministry told IRIN it was not possible to give details of any casualties from such a remote area. Bardai is in the extreme northwest of the country, separated by hundreds of kilometres of mainly desert from Ndjamena in the southwest. AFP had reported the MJDT as saying it had killed more than 240 government troops in a battle to capture Bardai on Monday. The MJDT said hundreds of others were wounded and taken prisoner including the colonel in charge of the garrison, Hissen Berry. Rebel spokesman Kailan Ahmed Touer said the Bardai garrison was the biggest in Chad, and claimed that 1,000 members of the presidential guard were deployed there, according to AFP. The MDJT, led by former defence and interior minister Youssouf Togoimi, has been fighting the government from its bases in the northern region of Tibesti since October 1998.