The Chadian government accused neighbouring Sudan of forming a new rebel army to attack the country, but withdrew a threat to expel 200,000 refugees from the strife-torn Sudanese region of Darfur. It also gained key tacit support from the United States as one source suggested the Khartoum regime might have been involved in an attack on Chad and the State Department issued a pointed warning to Sudan against any such move in the future. Chadian Foreign Minister Ahmat Allami claimed the Sudanese government was "reforming a new army" to attack Chad, after the failure of an assault by insurgents on the capital N'Djamena last week which left some 400 dead. "Preparations are under way on the other side of the border. The Sudanese are reforming a new army... The Sudanese are preparing a new massacre," Allami told AFP by telephone.
The office of Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno later released a statement accusing Khartoum of conscripting young people in Darfur to join the Chadian rebels and of sending them weapons to use in a new attack. "According to corroborating sources, the Sudanese government is carrying out a forced recruitment of young people in Darfur to replace those who died during the latest combats," his office said in a statement.
Chad broke off diplomatic relations with Sudan last Friday, a day after the attack on N'Djamena by the rebel United Front for Change (FUC), which is seeking to topple Deby.