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Chadian villages burned; 65 killed

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published April 4, 2007

N'DJAMENA, Chad - Janjaweed militia attacked two Chadian villages in the volatile southeastern border region close to Sudan, torching houses, randomly shooting those who fled and killing at least 65 people, officials said Tuesday.

Survivors, 2,000 of whom arrived at a refugee camp about 30 miles from their villages, told aid workers that they were attacked by men on horses and camels and in vehicles with heavy weaponry, the U.N. refugee agency said.

The attackers encircled the villages and opened fire, pursuing fleeing villagers, robbing women and shooting the men, many of whom are feared dead, the U.N. agency said in a statement. Corpses were decaying fast because of the heat and would be buried in a common grave, the United Nations said.

The attacks took place Saturday in the border villages of Tiero and Marena, about 550 miles from the capital, N'djamena, but details were not immediately made public.

Chadian military officials reported that at least 65 people died in the fighting in Tiero, and the death toll is expected to rise when casualty figures from the attack on Marena are released, the U.N. refugee agency said.

The agency did not give the nationality of the militia members, saying only that they were reported to have fled in the direction of the border with Sudan after local self-defense militia members and Chadian soldiers repelled their attack.

Late Monday, Chadian government spokesman Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor said 54 died during the weekend attack, including 25 Sudanese militia members. The militia burnt down the villages, leaving 6,000 to 8,000 people homeless, Doumgor said.

Sudan and Chad have accused each other of backing rebels in each other's countries, and both have denied the allegations. Both countries have also repeatedly signed peace deals promising to stop the border fighting.

U.N. officials have warned of the possibility of increasing violence in the region where Chad, Sudan and the Central African Republic meet.

[Last modified April 4, 2007, 01:31:40]