January29, 2007:
The hit and run fighting in the north continues. French Mirage
fighters regularly fly recon missions along the Sudan border. When they spot a
group of rebels (a bunch of guys with guns in pickup trucks), they send the GPS
data to Chadian troops. If the location is close enough, Chad will send
out an armed helicopter. Otherwise, an army patrol may be dispatched. This is
all rather desultory, with only a few such contacts a week. It's a war in slow
motion.
Meanwhile,
UN had workers are trying to move their refugee camps away from the border, and
the rebel raids. The rebels use the camps as sources of supply, even if they
have to fight police or soldiers guarding the relief supplies, and relief
agency assets (satellite phones, laptops, trucks, iPods, etc).