Chad condemns the threat of the Sudan airport as ‘declaration of war’

Chad has condemned the threat of a Sudanese general to point to his airports, qualifying him as a “declaration of war.”

His Ministry of Foreign Affairs said he would respond according to international law if a “square meter of Chadiano territory is threatened.”

The warning follows the comments of Lieutenant General Yasir Al-Atta, the deputy commander of the Sudan Army, who said that the EAUs were using Chad airports to deliver weapons to the Paramilitary Fast Support forces (RSF).

The Sudanese army has repeatedly accused the EAU of supporting its rival, the RSF, during the brutal two -year civil war, which has created the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

UN experts have described the accusations of the US smuggling weapons to the RSF through Chad as “credible”, but the EAU have denied it.

The comments of the Lieutenant Gen Atta follow Sudan’s recent decision to bring the EAU to the International Court of Justice (ICI) about his alleged support for the RSF.

Speaking at a ceremony for an army officer killed in a drone attack by the RSF on Friday while the army was recovering the presidential palace, he said that the airports of Chad N’Djamena and the Eastern City AMDJASS were “legitimate objectives.”

Lieutenant General Atta said that “reprisal measures” against the EAU, the president of South South South and the president of Chad, Mahamat Deby would be taken.

South Sudan has also been accused of supporting the RSF. He has denied having backed anywhere in the conflict.

“We know what we are saying, and our words are not a joke at all, nor are they spoken lightly,” warned the lt gen atta.

BBC has communicated with the Sudan authorities for clarification about their comments.

His comments reflect the deep frustration of the Sudanese army not only with the EAU, but also with neighboring countries, accused of allowing their territory to be used as supply routes for the RSF.

In December, the Ministry of Defense of Sudan said that the weapons supplied included strategic drones that transport guided missiles.

Chad has positioned himself as neutral, but the War of Words exposes the growing regional instability caused by the Civil War of Sudan, which is complicated by the participation of external players.

“General Al-Atta should stop pronouncing silly threats and focusing on the urgent need for an immediate cessation of hostilities and participating without delay in a constructive dialogue in favor of a peaceful and lasting solution,” said Chad, highlighting that he is organizing hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees, mainly from the neighboring region of Darfur, which is largely under RSSF control.

The hard exchange occurred when the RSF claimed to have seized Al-Malha in Darfur, a city located on a vital commercial route from Chad and Libya.

It also serves as a key crossroads that leads El-Fafasher about 200 km (125 miles) away, the last state of the state in Darfur still under the control of the army, which the RSF has besieged for almost a year.

The rebel group said it had “surrounded the enemy … leaving 380 dead”, after months of fighting with a coalition of armed groups allied to the Sudanese army known as the joint forces.

He claimed to have “released” the area and declared that “he remained firm in (his) determination to end this war in favor of the Sudanese people.”

The BBC spoke with two members of local activist groups, known as emergency response rooms, which had been coordinating humanitarian relief for the city.

We are not using their names to protect them and their families.

They say that after the RSF took control of the city, it closed the roads to prevent people from fleeing and imposed.

The institutions do not work, says Ahmed (not their real name).

The hospital does not work, the main market has been looted and nobody is receiving water, normally delivery of storage tanks by suppliers.

The estimates so far of those killed in the progress of RSF vary from 35 to 48.

Ahmed, who monitors Darfur from outside the country, said this was due to the fact that the group had cut internet communications in Al-Malha.

He has not been able to contact his mother and his 11 brothers and sisters to discover what happened to them.

Ismail (not his real name) managed to flee with his family during the night, to the people of Kenana, where many of the displaced people of Al-Malha are also struggling to obtain food and water.

Others took refuge in the valleys among the shepherds of goats and nomadic camels, they told the BBC.

Ismail said that many of the murdered people were merchants in the market, because they belonged to the Zaghawa community, the ethnic base of the joint forces.

The RSF also burned the houses of those who thought they had a connection with the army or the government.

At least two leaders of the traditional community were killed, said Ahmed.

Analysts say that the RSF seems determined to consolidate its control over its strength of Darfur after months of army profits in the center of Sudan and the capital, Jartum.

The group leader, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, promised to fight in Jardtum despite the meaning of the army last week.

Paramilitary fighters remain scattered in parts of the city center, including the airport, as well as the south and west of the capital.

But the army says that it has been constantly taking infrastructure and key buildings, including the intelligence headquarters of the Central Bank and State Intelligence, since it consolidates the control over the area.

Completely claiming the rest of the capital would mark a fundamental point in the war, giving the Sudanese army a strategic advantage in the other battlefields in the country.

But many observers believe that there is the danger of the de facto partition, with the two parties at war and their sponsors consolidating themselves in their areas of influence.