More than 100 rebels and nine government soldiers were killed in two gun battles in eastern Chad this week, Reuters quoted a government spokesman as saying. Chad's army also took 80 wounded rebels prisoner in the violence, which took place around Tamassi, near Chad's eastern border with Sudan, Information Minister Kedallah Younous said in a statement read on state radio late on Wednesday. The rebels involved in the fighting on April 24 and April 28 were from Adam Yacoub's FPRN rebel group, which is part of a coalition of insurgents that have been fighting against Chadian President Idriss Deby's government. There was no immediate comment from the rebels. Yacoub's rebels are based in oil-producing Chad. Over the last six years. In February, Chad and Sudan agreed to end their proxy wars and work together to rebuild their border areas, a move seen aimed at bolstering security and credibility before impending polls in both nations. This week's violence in Chad comes as the government and the United Nations agreed on winding down the number of U.N. peacekeepers in Chad to 1,900 from a full strength mission of over 5,000. Chad, which will hold legislative elections this year and a presidential poll in 2011, had wanted to see the U.N. force pack up and go home. -- SPA
