Civil war in Chad (2005–2010)

Chadian Civil War
Major flashpoints of the conflict
Date 18 December 2005 – 15 January 2010 (4 years and 4 weeks) Location Chad Status Chadian government victory
Belligerents
Rebels: FUC UFDD RFD CNT CDR UFDP RDL UFDD-F SCUD CNR URF MDJT UFCD FSR UFR UMC FPRN UDC MPRD Janjaweed Alleged support:  Sudan (until 2010)	Chad  France NMRD JEM
Commanders and leaders
Mohammed Nour (RDL) Mahamat Nouri (UFDP, UFDD) Acheikh ibn Oumar (CDR) Timane Ermini (RFD) Hassan al-Djinedi (CNT) Hassan Al Gadam (CNT) Abdelwahid Aboud Mackaye (UFDD-F) Yaya Djérou (SCUD) Khalil Abdallah (NMRD) Almado Mardo (CNR) Adouma Hassaballah (UFCD) Youssouf Togoïmi (MDJT) Hassan Mardigue (MDJT) Aboubakar Dazi (MDJT) Adam Yakub (FPRN) Omar al-Bashir	Idriss Déby Jacques Chirac (2005-2007) Nicolas Sarkozy (2007-2010)
Strength
FUC: 5,000-7,000 (2006) 3,000-4,000 (2008) UFDD: 2,000-3,000 (2006) 4,000-6,000 (2007-08) UFDD-F: 500 (2007) UFCD: 1,500 (2010) UFR: 3,000 (2010) RFC-RAFD: 800 (2006) 3,000 (2007) 800 (2010) CNT: 1,000-2,000 (2007) FSR: 500 (2007) FRPN: 800 (2007) MPRD: 500 (2007)	29,850 (2002) 35,000 (2010) 950 (2002) 1,200 (2008) 2,500 (2008)
Casualties and losses
7,000 Killed 200,000 refugees

The most recent Chadian Civil War began in December 2005. Since its independence from France in 1960, Chad has been swamped by the civil war between the Arab-Muslims of the north and the Sub-Saharan-Christians of the south. As a result, leadership and presidency in Chad drifted back and forth between the Christian southerners and Muslim northerners. When one side was in power, the other side usually started a revolutionary war to counter it.

France, the former colonial power, and Chad's northern neighbour Libya have both become involved at various times throughout the civil war. By the mid-1990s the civil war had somewhat stabilised, and in 1996 Idriss Déby, a northerner, was confirmed president in Chad's first democratic election. In 1998 an armed rebellion began in the north, led by President Déby's former defence chief, Youssouf Togoimi. A Libyan peace deal in 2002 failed to put an end to the fighting. In 2003, conflict in the neighbouring Darfur region in Sudan leaked across the border into Chad. Refugees from Sudan were joined by Chadian civilians who were trying to escape rebel violence and eventually filled the camps. It was clear that Chad's rebels received weapons and assistance from the government of Sudan. At the same time, Sudan's rebels got help from Chad's government. In February 2008, three rebel groups joined forces and launched an attack on Chad's capital, N'Djamena. After launching an assault that failed to seize the presidential palace, the attack was decisively repulsed. France sent in troops to shore up the government. Many of the rebels were former allies of President Idriss Déby. They accused him of corruption towards members of his own tribe.

The battle at the start of December 2006 in the Chadian capital N'djamena came as no surprise. For the years prior to the eruption, the Sudanese government was trying to overthrow the Chadian president, Idriss Déby, using Chadian rebels as middle men. The three armed groups involved in attacks in 2008 were armed by Sudanese security forces intent on cutting off the support that Déby was giving to the rebels in Darfur, especially the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), which had been on the offensive in Darfur. The war in Chad was a result of four distinct forces.

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