Battle of N'Djamena (2008)

For other battles that occurred in N'Djamena, see Battle of N'Djamena.

Battle of N'Djamena
Part of Civil war in Chad (2005–2010)
DateFebruary 2–4, 2008
Location
N'Djamena, Chad
Result Government victory; rebels fail to take N'Djamena
Belligerents
UFDD rebels
UFDD-F rebels
RFC rebels[1]		 Chadian National Army
Justice and Equality Movement
France France (but see below)
Commanders and leaders
Mahamat Nouri
Abdelwahid Aboud Mackaye
Timane Erdimi		 Idriss Déby Itno
Daoud Soumain †
Strength
2,000 soldiers[2]
250 technicals[3]		 2,000–3,000 soldiers[4]
20 T-55 tanks
3 Mil Mi-24 helicopters[3]
many technicals[5]
Casualties and losses
200–300 killed[3]
135 captured[6]		 75 killed

Civilian casualties:
160+ killed & 1,000+ wounded (Red Cross)[7]
At least 100 killed and 700 wounded (MSF)[8]
400+ killed (President Déby)[9]

Total casualties:
540 killed (Uppsala Conflict Data Program)[10]
700 killed, including those killed in Massaguet (President Déby)[11]

The Battle of N'Djamena began on February 2, 2008, when Chadian rebel forces opposed to Chadian President Idriss Déby entered N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, after a three-day advance through the country. The rebels were initially successful, taking a large part of the city and attacking the heavily defended presidential palace. They did not capture the palace, and after two days of fighting they withdrew to outside the city. Around two days later they retreated east.

The assault on the capital was part of a longer military campaign to unseat the Chadian president. The array of rebels fighting against the government shifted during the war: this attack involved approximately 2,000 men from the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development, the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development-Fundamental and the Rally of Democratic Forces. Several non-rebel opposition leaders were arrested by the government.

Hundreds died in the battle, which displaced at least 30,000. French forces evacuated foreigners, but also provided intelligence and ammunition for the Chadian National Army and sporadically exchanged fire with rebels. Soldiers from the Justice and Equality Movement, a Darfur-based ally of the Chadian government, reportedly took part in the battle, but many more fought in the east of Chad, preventing rebel reinforcements from reaching the city.

  1. ^ HRW calls for protection of Chadian civilians Archived September 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Africanews, February 5, 2008.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Clash was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Prunier was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference AP_03 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference AvenueMobutu was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Chad leader declares state of emergency, Associated Press (Yahoo News), February 14, 2008.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference RedCross160 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference MSF100 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ S. Hancock & E. Jarry, "Chad pledges inquiry into missing politicians", Reuters (International Herald Tribune), February 27, 2008.
  10. ^ Sundberg, Ralph, Mathilda Lindgren and Ausra Padskocimaite, 2010, "UCDP GED Codebook version 1.5-2011", Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University
  11. ^ Chad's Deby says 700 killed in February rebel attack, Reuters, March 6, 2008.