Rebels attack town filled with refugees

Rebels trying to topple President Idriss Deby attacked a town in eastern Chad where thousands of refugees are taking shelter, officials said.

There was heavy fighting for about an hour in Goz Beida, said an aid worker who asked that his name not be used for fear of reprisals. It was not clear if there were casualties.

Chad’s communications minister and a spokesman for the EU peacekeeping force confirmed the attack.

Eastern Chad is the temporary home to about 300,000 refugees who have fled the Darfur conflict, just across the border in Sudan. The region also has camps for 187,000 Chadians displaced by fighting both locally and in Darfur.