Chad’s ruling military council has rejected an offer of ceasefire talks with rebels it has been fighting since the unexpected death of president Idriss Déby.
“The time is not for mediation, nor for negotiation with outlaws,” Azem Bermandoa Agouna, spokesman of the military council headed by the late strongman’s son Mahamat Idriss Deby, said on Sunday after the rebels said they were prepared to observe a ceasefire.
“They are rebels, which is why we are bombing them. We are waging war, that’s all,” military council spokesman Azem Bermendao Agouna said in a statement.
Mr Agouna said some of the rebels had fled into neighbouring Niger. He urged authorities there to “facilitate the capture and bringing to justice of these war criminals”.
He said the leader of FACT, Mahamat Mahadi Ali, was “sought for war crimes” in Libya, where his rebel group has an active presence.
The group was formed in 2016 with the goal of overthrowing the government of Chad and has been linked to fighting in Libya’s most recent civil war.
The FACT rebels came over the northern border from Libya on April 11 calling for an end to Deby’s 30-year rule.
They came as close as 200-300km (125-185 miles) from the capital, N’Djamena, before being pushed back by the army.
Deby died after succumbing to wounds sustained while leading troops against the rebel offensive, just after he won an election.
His death shocked the Central African country, which has long been a Western and regional ally against armed groups they call “Islamist militants”.
The air force has since bombarded rebel positions, the military and rebels said. The military said on Saturday it had “annihilated” the rebels.
After Deby’s death, a military council headed by his son, Mahamat Idriss Deby, seized power and said it would oversee an 18-month transition to elections.
Opposition politicians called this a coup, and the rebels said they would not accept a “monarchy”.
