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DAKAR - A Chadian rebel group said today its fighters had seized a town in the country's remote northeast in an effort to open a new front in its fight against President Idriss Deby's government.
"This morning two columns of the Union Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) carried out attacks ... They were able to dislodge government forces and they now occupy the town of Ounianga Kebir," Makaila Nguebla, a rebel spokesman said.
Ounianga Kebir lies in Chad's far northeastern desert, roughly equidistant from the Sudanese and Libyan borders. Previous rebel attacks have largely targeted towns much further south near the Sudan border.
"We have been obliged to open several fronts ... It is a military strategy, we are trying to generalise the conflict across the national territory so as to stretch the government forces," Nguebla said.
Nguebla said he had been in contact with rebel commanders in Chad by satellite phone. It was not immediately possible to gain independent confirmation of the rebel attack.
- REUTERS
