View source for Battle of N'Djamena (2006)

{{Short description|2006 battle between Chadian military and UFCD forces}}
{{For|other battles that occurred in N'Djamena|Battle of N'Djamena (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
:
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of N'Djamena
| partof            = [[Chadian Civil War (2005–2010)]]
| image             = <!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Chad gunmen.jpg]] -->
| caption           = <small>''Masked gunmen on a pickup truck near N'Djamena''</small>
| date              = 13 April 2006
| place             = [[N'Djamena]], [[Chad]]
| result            = Chadian military victory
| combatant1        = [[United Front for Democratic Change]]
| combatant2        = [[Image:Flag of Chad.svg|20px]] [[Chad military|Military of Chad]]
| casualties1       = 370 killed<ref name="turkishpress.com">{{Cite web |url=http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=118950 |title=Chad breaks off relations with Sudan, says uprising crushed |access-date=10 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060912011223/http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=118950 |archive-date=12 September 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref><br />271 captured<ref name="turkishpress.com" />
| casualties2       = 30 killed<ref name="turkishpress.com" />
| casualties3       = Unknown number of civilians killed, 387 injured on both sides<ref name="turkishpress.com" />
| commander1        = [[Mohammed Nour Abdelkerim]]<br>[[Abdelwahid Aboud Mackaye]]
| commander2        = {{flagicon|Chad}} [[Idriss Déby]]
}}
{{Campaignbox Chad-Sudan}}
The '''Battle of N'Djamena''' took place between the forces of the [[revolutionary]] [[United Front for Democratic Change]] (UFCD) and the [[military of Chad]] that occurred on 13 April 2006 when rebel forces launched an [[invasion|assault]] on the capital of [[Chad]] in the pre-dawn hours, attempting to overthrow the [[government of Chad|government]] of [[President of Chad|President]] [[Idriss Déby Itno]] from their bases an estimated thousand miles east.

The battle occurred just months after serious Chad-Sudan tensions ended with the signing of the [[Tripoli Agreement]]. Déby broke off relations with the government of Sudan as a result, expelling its diplomats and threatened to stop sheltering thousands of [[Sudanese refugees]] from the [[Darfur]] region.<ref>{{cite news | last=England | first=Andrew | title=Chad severs ties with Sudan | date=15 April 2006 | work=Financial Times | url=http://news.ft.com/cms/s/9d4087ea-cc1b-11da-a7bf-0000779e2340.html | access-date=15 April 2006 | archive-date=6 May 2015 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20150506172558/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9d4087ea-cc1b-11da-a7bf-0000779e2340.html%23axzz3ZNdg5OSx | url-status=dead }}</ref> The government of Sudan has been documented by the United Nations to have engaged in mass murder of approximately 100,000 non-Arab civilians in [[Darfur]] in the period 2003–2006.<ref>[https://www.un.org/News/dh/sudan/com_inq_darfur.pdf Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur to the United Nations Secretary-General], [[International Commission of Inquiry]], 18 September 2004</ref>

==The battle==
The rebels attempted to seize the [[National Assembly of Chad|National Assembly]] building, but the assault was easily repulsed by the much more heavily armed Chadian government forces. At least 400 people, including 370 rebels, 30 government forces and some [[civilian casualties|civilians]], were killed in the fighting. 271 rebels were captured and [[Victory parade|paraded]] through the [[Place d'Independance (N'Djamena)|Place d'Independance]] the next day.

==Reactions==

=== Chad===
President Déby blamed the attack on the government of neighboring [[Sudan]], claiming that many of the attackers were either Sudanese backed by their government or residents of Chad conscripted by the Sudanese. Subsequently, he threatened to expel 200,000 Sudanese refugees sheltering in the east of the country after repeating accusations that Sudan supports rebels who launched a new offensive to oust him. Déby backed away from this threat on 17 April 2006.<ref>{{cite news | date=17 April 2006 | publisher=Sudan Tribune | title=Chad reassures UN, no expulsion of Darfur refugees | url=http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=15106 | access-date=19 April 2006 | archive-date=21 November 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061121051644/http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=15106 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Déby repeatedly has accused Sudan of hiring mercenaries to overthrow his government. Sudan has denied the accusation, and in turn has accused Chad of supporting fighters in its volatile Darfur region, where Arab militias and African rebels have fought for nearly three years.

Déby claimed that the rebel attack was designed to encourage a constitutional vacuum leading to [[civil war]], by disrupting the forthcoming [[Chadian presidential election, 2006|May 3 presidential election]], an election in which President Déby, who had been Chad's leader for sixteen years, successfully ran for a third term.<ref>{{cite news | last=Flynn | first=Daniel | title=Chad's leader accuses Sudan of waging war | date=18 April 2006 | work=The Scotsman | url=http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=588212006}}</ref>

Déby dismissed the rebels as "petty mercenaries" and described the attack as "amateurish", saying that he was "not going anywhere". According to Déby, on the morning of the rebel attack, he "knew they were coming", and he and his wife Hinda were "listening to the cannon fire" while "[taking] our breakfast of strong coffee and warm croissant."<ref>Emily Wax, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/01/AR2006050101503.html?nav=rss_world "New First Lady Captivates Chad"], ''The Washington Post'', 2 May 2006, page A17.</ref>

===Other===
The actions of the rebel forces were condemned by the [[United Nations Security Council]]. Secretary General [[Kofi Annan]] was quoted as saying he was "greatly troubled by the worsening security situation in Chad".<ref>{{cite news | author=Various writers | title=UN condemns rebel attack in Chad | date=14 April 2006 | publisher=The Age | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4908836.stm}}</ref>

The [[Central African Republic]] closed off its [[Central African Republic–Sudan border|border with Sudan]] on 14 April saying that the rebels had crossed into its territory on their way to N'Djamena.<ref>{{cite news | last=Lacey | first=Marc | title=After Battle in Capital, Chad Threatens to Expel Sudanese | date=15 April 2006 | work=The New York Times | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/15/world/africa/15chad.html?_r=1&hp&ex=1145073600&en=59a6b0bdba8afcb1&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=slogin}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060418050312/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12306302/ Chad Breaks With Sudan After Rebel Attack] – [[MSNBC]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060415170130/http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=N14331793 U.S. urges Chad, Sudan to halt violence in region] – [[Reuters]]

{{Chadian-Sudanese conflict}}
{{N'Djamena}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of N'djamena (2006)}}
[[Category:2006 in Chad]]
[[Category:Battles of the Chadian Civil War (2005–2010)|N'Djamena]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 2006|N'Djamena]]
[[Category:History of N'Djamena]]
[[Category:2006 in military history]]
[[Category:April 2006 in Africa|N'Djamena]]