Libyan Planes and Tanks Back New Attack to Secure Hold in North, Chad Charges

Libyan troops backed by bombers and tanks and other armored vehicles launched a new attack Saturday in the Tibesti region of northern Chad in an attempt to crush Chadian forces resisting Libya’s three-year occupation of the region, government radio said.

“Intensive and especially destructive shelling is taking place by land and air in the entire zone of Bardai, Wour and Zouar,” said a statement read over the radio by the military forces of President Hissen Habre. It said the attack began at 6 a.m. Saturday and described the fighting as “unprecedented.” The area is about 600 miles north of N’Djamena, the capital of this north-central African nation.

French cargo planes Wednesday dropped supplies and ammunition in the region, near the Libyan frontier. The U.S. State Department announced Thursday that it has begun providing $15 million in emergency assistance to Chad at the request of the Habre government.

Nation Split in Two

Intense fighting has gone on in the northern Tibesti Mountains between pro-Chadian government forces on one side and Libyan troops and allied rebels who have occupied the northern half of Chad since 1983. Libyan troop strength is believed to be 5,000. Habre’s forces control the south of this landlocked nation.

In 1981, Libya announced its intention to unite with Chad, which won independence from France in 1960. The Libyan announcement drew criticism from the United States, France and several African nations.

Habre came to power in 1982 in a coup that ousted then-President Goukouni Oueddei. Goukouni returned to the north to lead rebel forces backed by Libya in an offensive aimed at restoring Goukouni to power.

France, Chad’s major ally, sent in 3,500 troops to prevent the Libyan-backed forces from advancing farther south. France pulled out its troops in 1984 after reaching a withdrawal agreement with Libya, but Libya violated the pact by keeping 5,000 troops in the north, which the government of Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi now considers Libyan territory.

The fighting left Chad divided into a Libyan-controlled north and a government-controlled south.

French Troops Returned

Last February, France sent a 700-member force to Chad, stationing them around N’Djamena, in the south, and Moussoro, about 155 miles north.

France insists that it will not move north of the 16th Parallel into rebel-held territory. But Paris has warned that French troops would move into action should Libyan troops cross south of the parallel.

Goukouni broke with the Libyans last October when he agreed to a cease-fire and attempted a reconciliation with Habre. Goukouni now is under house arrest in Libya.

The latest fighting in the Tibesti region flared at the beginning of last week, according to the Habre government. The Chad radio said Saturday that the Chadian military command “once more calls for a total mobilization of all forces in the country to check the invader.”