Chad army launches offensive against eastern rebels

N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Government troops in Chad have launched a military offensive against rebels in the east as President Idriss Deby seeks to reassert his control over the country ahead of a presidential election in May.

Government sources in N'Djamena said on Tuesday the Chadian army had since Monday attacked at least one rebel command post in the mountains of Hadjer Marfain, south of Adre, near the eastern border with Sudan.

"We've gone on the offensive since yesterday morning and we've dislodged the rebels from the mountains of Hadjer Marfain where they had installed a command post," one of the government sources, who asked not to be named, said.

The source gave no casualty report but said the Chadian army had destroyed several rebel vehicles.

A leader of the Chadian SCUD rebel group confirmed an attack against one of his bases, but said his fighters had repulsed the government assault, inflicting heavy casualties.

"They attacked from two sides, from the east and the west, but we are controlling our position," SCUD rebel leader Yaya Dillo Djerou told Reuters by satellite phone.

Deby, who has faced increasing attacks and incursions on Chad's eastern border by groups of Chadian rebels and army deserters in recent months, was directing the offensive in the east of the country, along with his defense minister.

Denouncing a spillover into his own country of the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, he has accused the Sudanese government of backing efforts to topple him, a charge denied by Khartoum.

The army push against the rebels came one week after Chad's government announced it had foiled a coup plot against Deby, whose 16-year rule has been weakened by a wave of high-level military desertions.

MORE OFFENSIVES PLANNED

Chad plans to hold a presidential election on May 3 in which Deby will stand for re-election for another term. Only one other candidate has announced he is running so far and Deby is widely expected to win.

"This is a first offensive and others will follow to end the activities of all these rebel movements," the government source said.

SCUD leader Dillo said the government offensive was an attempt by Deby to demonstrate he could still control the country and defend its borders, despite a wave of defections by military officers and close aides since last year.

"It's not a big threat for us. After the last desertion, he (Deby) is trying to shore up his international credibility," he said.

Chad's government said on Monday it had arrested 100 military officers and soldiers it said were implicated in a failed assassination plot last week against Deby.

SCUD said the announced plot was an invention by the government to cover up another embarrassing spate of high-level military desertions.

Since last September, several waves of Chadian military officers have deserted with soldiers and equipment to join the anti-Deby rebels in the east. At least one rebel group has given the president a public ultimatum to either start negotiations on democratic change or face overthrow.

Deby, himself a former army commander who seized power in a 1990 revolt he led from eastern Chad, reshuffled his military top brass and replaced his personal guard late last year as security fears increased.

Analysts fear the threat posed to Deby by the rebels, who appear to be able to operate from Darfur, risks increasing the conflict already spilling over from the Sudanese territory, where ethnic and political violence has killed thousands.

Those deserting Deby have included members of his own Zaghawa ethnic group, some of whom blame him for not doing enough to help fellow Zaghawa kinsmen in Darfur who have been attacked by Arab militias.