Chadian army says 250 rebels captured

N'DJAMENA: The Chadian military on Saturday said it had captured more than 250 rebels, including some top leaders, after an operation against a convoy of militants trying to cross into the country from Libya in late January that also involved French airstrikes.

In a statement issued by army staff the Chadian military said the sweep would continue in the region of Ennedi, in the northwest border with Libya and Sudan, near where the armed column of rebel vehicles was brought to a halt in early February. The statement said some 250 "terrorists, including four main leaders" were detained, while more than 40 vehicles were destroyed and hundreds of weapons were seized.

"Several compromising documents" were also seized," the statement added without giving further details. However, a spokesman for the Union of Resistance Forces (UFR) rebel group, dismissed the figure given for those arrested as "imaginary". Youssouf Hamid said only about 30 fighters had been held.