Yet More Trouble in Northeastern Africa

The fear of war seems to lie all over Northeastern Africa...

N'DJAMENA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Chad is extending for six months a state of emergency in large swathes of the country, saying it needs more time to pacify ethnic conflicts that have killed hundreds and which it blames Sudan for provoking.

President Idriss Deby's government declared the emergency on Nov 13 -- initially for 12 days -- saying Chad was the victim of a campaign of deliberate military destabilisation being waged by neighbour Sudan from its violent western Darfur region.

Humanitarian workers say hundreds of Chadian villagers have been killed in recent weeks in fighting between Arab and non-Arab communities and in attacks by Arabic-speaking armed raiders on horseback, often striking across the Sudan border.

With background on the tensions between Chad and Sudan here.