Chad's armed forces encircled a rebel convoy in the far east of the country on Sunday taking many prisoners in fierce fighting, the defence minister said. Government forces pursuing the convoy encircled it in the scrubland around Hadjer Meram some 70 km (44 miles) from the border, the minister said. "We were pursuing the rebels and we encircled them. Heavy fighting took place this morning," Defence Minister Bichara Issa Djadallah told Reuters. He said it was too early to give casualty figures, but the army had taken many rebel prisoners.
