Sudan accuses Chad of air attack

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8052937.stm

Page last updated at 21:42 GMT, Friday, 15 May 2009 22:42 UK

Sudan accuses Chad of air attack

Sudan has accused Chad of carrying out air raids inside its territory, and said it was assessing how to respond. One Sudanese official described the alleged raids as an act of war and said there had been casualties - though another official said no-one was hurt.

The accusation comes 10 days after Chad said Sudan had backed Chadian rebels.

The two states have long traded accusations of supporting rebels in each other's territory, especially around Sudan's war-torn Darfur area.

Chadian communications Minister Mahamat Hissene was quoted by AFP news agency on Friday as saying he was "surprised to learn that the regime in Khartoum is protesting against a Chadian air force action: this is obviously the pot calling the kettle black".

He was also quoted by AP news agency as saying he would "wouldn't be surprised" if there were raids since the Chadian military had been chasing rebels out of the country.

'Waiting for instructions'

Earlier, Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman Ali Sadiq said two Chadian aeroplanes had carried out strikes on areas 60km (40 miles) inside Sudan.

The raids had taken place in deserted areas and there were no casualties, he was quoted as saying by AFP.

But Ali Youssef Ahmed, head of protocol at Sudan's foreign ministry, was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying: "They attacked. They bombed and there were casualties."

The Chadian planes crossed the border just south of Geneina, Darfur, he said.

He said that three, rather than two, planes had been involved.

Sudan has summoned the Chadian ambassador and alerted the UN Security Council, the Arab League and the African Union, a statement from Mr Sadiq said.

"The Sudanese army is ready to respond but is waiting for instructions from the leadership," he said.

Last week Chad's government said it had repelled a rebel "invasion" from Sudan, and accused Khartoum of backing the rebel forces.

That accusation came two days after Chad and Sudan had signed a reconciliation agreement in Qatar.

Officials in Chad said 220 rebels were killed and 120 captured.

Rebels have been trying to topple Chadian President Idriss Deby for more than three years.

Although Khartoum has repeatedly denied backing the rebels, analysts note the insurgents have operated out of Sudanese territory for several years.

Sudan has also long accused Chad of supporting rebels in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

In May 2008, Khartoum accused N'Djamena of backing Darfur-based insurgents who launched an unprecedented attack on the Sudanese capital.

Many Darfur rebels are from the same ethnic group as Mr Deby, and ever since their uprising began, he has been accused of offering them support.

[Guest guest]

On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 17:18, environmental1st2003

<no_reply > wrote:

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> He said that three, rather than two, planes had been involved.

>

This is a strange detail. Usually three plane formations are not used

as multiples of two tend to operate better in combat.

[Guest guest]

The British used the three fighter formation up to and during part of WWII. The reasoning was that in this way more guns could be brought to bear on a single bomber and shoot it down more readily. It didn't really work, however, because the two wing pilots spent most of the thing time maintaining formation and so didn't see what was going on around them or to shoot accurately.

The Germans used the "Finger Four" formation of 2 sets of two fighters, each pair with a leader and a wingman. It was far superior especially against other fighters. That said, the Germans may have used huge formations of fighters toward the end of the war to attack the big bomber strings. One of these formations may have been a single formation of 50 or more fighters that tore through a bomber group doing much damage. However, because this was probably done because of the low experience level of the new pilots and once the formation was attacked by American fighters, it fell apart and most of the German pilots stood little chance in single fights.

Bombers sometimes do fly in odd numbered groups. In Vietnam, B-52's generally flew in 3-ship formations much like the British mentioned above. Other formations used attack planes in whatever number might be needed from a single plane to a dozen or more. Sometimes they operated in pairs or made their runs singly. I always thought it was suicidal to send the fighter/bombers singly against a target over a period of 10 or 15 minutes with several minutes between passes. Plenty of time to let gunners get set up and shoot at the succeeding waves of planes.

Nations like Sudan and Chad don't have professional air forces like we do. They also face little real opposition, so they just send up whatever. Just like the Sudanese attacks against the Christians and Animists in their country, they could send one plane or helicopter or several.

All that said, the Sudanese probably are supporting rebels in Chad. Its not something that I have read much about, but I know something of the history of that region and it is very likely that the Sudanese are doing exactly that.

This is a strange detail. Usually three plane formations are not usedas multiples of two tend to operate better in combat. An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps!