REBEL forces claimed to have seized another city in eastern Chad today, as the UN condemned the deteriorating security situation and the US began to evacuate staff.
With government reports of heavy clashes near the town of Biltine, about 750km east of the capital, Ndjamena, the US said it was pulling out non-vital embassy staff whilst the UN security council and African Union both denounced the rebel assault.
Over the weekend, the rebels - who group themselves as the National Alliance - seized two eastern towns and said their aim was to capture Ndjamena, in a repeat of an unsuccessful coup attempt in February, whilst the Chadian authorities dismissed their attacks so far as a "publicity stunt".
Conflicting reports from the two sides today left the exact state of the rebel advance against President Idriss Deby Itno`s regime difficult to judge.
A senior government official said there had been "heavy fighting" when the army intercepted the rebel forces on the outskirts of Biltine, which is 100km north of the eastern capital, Abeche.
A spokesman for the National Alliance, Ali Gueddei, said the rebels still controlled Biltine by late afternoon.
"Our strategy is not to defend these cities," said Gueddi. "They (the army) are giving out false information to raise their morale. That is all."
"Currently our tactic is to spread out the government troops. It`s a real cat-and-mouse chase," said another rebel spokesman, Abderaman Kulamallah.
"The rebels are trying to lure us into getting thinned out, but we have reinforced all strategic points," a Chadian military source said.
That was backed up by French military sources, who said the Chadian army was spread out across the east.
France, the former colonial power of Chad, has said it is not "intervening" in the affair, but the rebels accuse it of supporting Mr Deby.
A large European Union force, EUFOR, is also stationed in the east of Chad to protect displaced people and refugees fleeing from war-ravaged Darfur in neighbouring Sudan.
Mr Deby today accused EUFOR, which arrived in the country in mid-March, of cooperating with the rebels.
"We welcomed EUFOR with joy ... but it took us by surprise to see, in the first hostile situation, this force cooperating with the invaders," Mr Deby said in a televised address, referring to the rebel forces. "We have the right to question the effectiveness of this force and how useful its presence is in Chad."
The mainly French EUFOR force is expected to reach 3700 soldiers and to remain in Chad for one year.
On Saturday the rebels captured Am Dam, 120km south west of Abeche, after briefly seizing Goz Beida (200km south of Abeche) on Sunday.
With the situation unstable, Washington announced today it was pulling out its non-essential staff to Cameroon.
In Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) said the Chadian army had sealed off Abeche, making movement for their staff very difficult.
"The UN refugee agency is concerned for the security of tens of thousands of refugees and displaced persons in Chad as the security situation rapidly deteriorates," the UNHCR said.
The UN security council, meanwhile, unanimously condemned the "destabilisation" by the armed rebel groups.
And it said the UN "stands ready to consider appropriate measures against those groups and individuals who constitute a threat to the stability of the region or violate international humanitarian law".
The African Union (AU) also "strongly condemned" the rebel attack "which threatens to seriously undermine efforts currently under way, firstly, at inter-Chadian dialogue and secondly, to promote peace and stability in the region".
National Alliance spokesman Koulamallah said the rebels were set for "a long war".
Koulamallah said earlier the rebels had about 500 to 600 vehicles and 7000 to 8000 men at their disposal, nearly double the number employed during their last offensive in February.
