The Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic in Chad stated that it killed ten soldiers and captured eight people in the north of the country as a result of attacks by the Chadian army in the northern region of Chad. Tibesti bordering Niger and Libya.

Chadian government spokesman Abderrahman Kalamallah told AFP that “although about 20 vehicles belonging to the rebel group entered the country last week, no clashes with government forces were recorded.” describing the group’s announcement as “fake news”.

Since gaining independence from France in 1960, there have been many uprisings in the Tibesti region. Since the discovery of gold mines there in 2012, thousands of miners have flocked to the region, as well as rebel groups from Chad and neighboring Sudan seeking to use the yellow metal to fund their military operations. The “Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic” group accused France of overflying its positions by planes of the Barhane mission against jihadists, warning that it would regard any bombing as a declaration of war.

The Military Command Council was formed in 2016 after a split occurred within the rebel group Front for Change and Accord (FACT).