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Rally of Forces for Change (RFC)
- The RFC said its positions had been bombed by Chadian helicopters on Saturday, raising fears that a major ground battle could soon take place.
- A spokesman for the RFC, Id Moura Maide, told the AFP news agency that the fighting had begun when Chadian military helicopters attacked one of the group's bases in the area.
- Saturday, Chadian Foreign Minister Ahmat Allami said RFC rebel forces led by Timan Erdimi had clashed with government forces around Kalait, some 210km (130 miles) north of Abeche.
- There have been days of fierce fighting east of Abeche between Chad's army and the UFDD, during which the government said several hundred rebels had died.
- On Friday, the UFDD also said it had declared war against the French-led 3,500-strong European Union peacekeeping force which is due to be deployed in Chad in January to protect refugees from Sudan's Darfur region.
- The rebels accused French military planes of flying over their positions and passing intelligence to the government during last week's fighting. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has insisted the declaration would not jeopardise the EU mission.
- The UFDD said it had broken the ceasefire because the government failed to honour the peace agreement brokered by Libya in March.
- The clashes follow days of fierce fighting east of Abeche between Chad's army and the UFDD, during which the government said several hundred rebels had died.
- The largest of the rebel groups, the UFDD, is led by Mahamat Nouri, a former government minister and diplomat who defected from the government in April 2006, accusing Deby of corruption, and launched an armed rebellion.
- Nouri is thought to have relocated to Sudan in 2007.
- Deby's government regularly accuses Sudan of supporting the UFDD rebels, who are largely drawn from their chief Nouri's Gorane ethnic group.
- Khartoum has repeatedly denied Deby's allegations, and has in turn accused Chad of backing rebel groups fighting the Sudanese government in Darfur.
United Front for Change (Fuc) rebel coalition
- The latest fighting began as President Deby sacked his defence minister, Mahamat Nour.
- A former leader of the United Front for Change (Fuc) rebel coalition, Mr Nour was appointed defence minister in March after agreeing to disarm his fighters and arrange for them to be assimilated into the Chadian army.
- Correspondents say this never really happened and last week the authorities said they suspected the fighters had instead taken up arms against the government again.
- Officials say Mr Nour has taken refuge in the Libyan embassy in the Chad's capital, Ndjamena.
- The FUC Chadian rebel alliance, made up of eight individual rebel groups, all with the goals of overthrowing the government of current Chadian President.
- It is now part of the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development.
- UFDC was founded between December 26 and December 28, 2005 in Modeina in eastern Chad. FUC's "president" is Mahamat Nour Abdelkerim, the former leader of the Rally for Democracy and Liberty rebel group, "
- first vice president" Hassan Salleh Algadam, "second vice president" Abakar Tollimi, and "secretary-general" Abdelwahit About.
- On December 18 the RDL and another allied rebel group, Platform for Change, Unity and Democracy, attacked the city of Adré.
- The attack was repulsed by the Chadian military, and the Chadian government accused the Sudanese government of supporting the rebels, which Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir denies.
- Chad declared a "state of belligerance" with Sudan on December 23, 2005, resulting in the Chad-Sudan Conflict. The result was the Tripoli Agreement.
- Abdullahi Abdel Karim, the spokesperson for the Rally for Democracy and Liberty (RDL) rebels said, "Each of our groups had their own forces, men and equipment. Now, we'll be joining them together." [1]
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