Chad rebels 'down military plane'

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A Chadian rebel group has claimed to have shot down a military plane which was bombing their positions.

Mahamat Nouri, leader of the UFDD rebel group which briefly captured the eastern city of Abeche at the weekend, told the BBC his men downed the plane.

Chad's communications minister admitted the plane was missing but said he could not yet confirm if it was shot down.

He again accused Sudan and Saudi Arabia of backing the rebels, who are trying to overthrow President Idriss Deby.

Since a rebellion began in Sudan's Darfur region nearly four years ago, violence has spilled over its borders into eastern Chad and both countries swap accusations of backing each other's rebel groups.

Communications Minister Houmadji Moussa Doumgor told journalists that Chad had previously been "in a state of belligerence" with Sudan, but now the country was "in a state of war with forces that are coming from Sudan".

The United Nations says about 90,000 Chadians have been displaced by the recent fighting.

'Massive blow'

Mr Nouri said the plane was shot down in eastern Chad at about 0600 local time on Tuesday morning, west of the town of Am Zoer, which is about 80km north of Abeche.

He claimed it was struck with a surface-to-air missile which his men had taken from the Chadian army barracks when they attacked Abeche on Saturday.

The Forces for Development and Democracy rebel commander said the plane was attacking his forces when the missile was launched.

The government have confirmed that two planes went on a surveillance mission on Tuesday morning and that one is now missing, but says there is no way of telling whether the plane was shot down or whether it may have been forced to make an emergency landing.

The BBC's Stephanie Hancock in the capital, N'Djamena, said that should it prove true that the plane was downed by a rebel missile, it will be a massive blow to the Chadian military.

Sources say the two planes were only delivered to the air force in Abeche on Monday and were on their very first sortie.