The African Union (AU) expressed this Wednesday its "concern" over the recent airstrikes carried out against Chadian territory in the context of the war in Sudan between the regular Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The authorities of N'Djamena attribute these bombings to the Sudanese Armed Forces, which would have targeted a column of the paramilitary group.
In an official statement, the president of the AU Commission, Mahmoud Ali Yusuf, reiterated "the AU's commitment to the strict respect of the sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of its member States, as well as the principle of the inviolability of borders."
In this regard, he urged "all parties involved" to "exercise maximum restraint, avoid any action that could escalate tensions between neighboring States, and take all necessary measures to prevent the conflict in Sudan from spreading beyond the country's borders."
Yusuf also emphasized "the need to strengthen dialogue and cooperation among the States of the region to prevent cross-border incidents, increase security at common borders, and reduce the risk of regional escalation," while showing the continental organization's willingness to support any effort aimed at "preserving peace and regional stability."
Last Saturday, the Chadian Army reported that several planes and drones, supposedly Sudanese, bombed during the previous week a column of vehicles located within its territory and more than one hundred kilometers from the border line, which led N'Djamena to place its armed forces at "the highest level of alert."
In March, the United Nations had already warned about the risk of the Sudanese war spilling over into Chad, following a drone attack that left dead in the border town of Tiné, in the east of the country. Chad shares more than 1,000 kilometers of border with Sudan and hosts several hundred thousand refugees who have fled the fighting between the Sudanese Army and the RSF since April 2023.
The civil conflict in Sudan originated from deep disagreements about the process of integrating the RSF into the Armed Forces, which derailed the transition opened after the overthrow in 2019 of the regime of Omar Hassan al-Bashir, already seriously deteriorated after the coup that forced the departure of then Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.