Darfur violence hits Chad again

Darfur violence hits Chad again
By Stephanie Hancock BBC News, Koukou, eastern Chad

A fresh wave of attacks by Janjaweed militia is underway in eastern Chad, some 65 km from the border with Sudan.
At least 10 villages in the area are thought to have been attacked in the last week alone. Several have reportedly been burned to the ground.
Some of the Janjaweed attacks have taken place as little as 15 km from a camp housing Sudanese refugees.
Violence in Darfur has been spilling across the border into eastern Chad for more than six months.
The rainy season offered a brief respite but now that the rains are almost over fighting has erupted yet again.
Villagers say they tried to fight back with spears and bows and arrows but were no match for the Janjaweed's firepower.
Precise casualty figures are hard to come by but survivors speak of many dead and wounded.
Occupied villages
There are also reports that at least seven of the villages attacked have been burnt to the ground.
It is impossible to travel to the villages in question as the Janjaweed are reportedly still occupying many of them.
But more than 3,000 Chadians have fled their homes in the past seven days.
Villagers say they are being attack by both Chadian and Sudanese Arabs and many now talk about a Chadian Janjaweed.
More than 200,000 Sudanese refugees live in camps near the border region.
So there are now two fears: not only for the Chadian civilians but also for the Sudanese refugees who thought they had left the Janjaweed far behind.
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