Chad closes border with Sudan after troops killed

Chad has closed its eastern border with Sudan, the government says, after several Chadian soldiers and civilians were killed in recent days in clashes linked to the Sudanese civil war, reports Al Jazeera. Communications Minister Mahamat Gassim Cherif said the decision followed ‘repeated incursions and violations committed by the forces involved in the conflict in Sudan on Chadian territory’. The closure ‘aims to prevent any risk of the conflict spreading to our soil, to protect our fellow citizens and refugee populations, and to guarantee the stability and territorial integrity of our country’, he said. The conflict in Sudan between the Sudanese military and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023, has periodically spilled over into Chadian territory, causing casualties and property damage. Chad’s Government said that the border would remain closed until further notice but added that exceptions could be made for humanitarian purposes with prior government approval. Kholood Khair, a political analyst and founder of the Confluence Advisory group, said the closure means that even less humanitarian aid will be getting into Sudan ‘at a time where the famine rates … have skyrocketed’.

Full Al Jazeera report