Chadian rebels and military sources report fierce fighting today less than 100 kilometers from the capital, N'djamena. Meanwhile, the European Union has delayed the deployment of peacekeeping troops to Chad.

The European Union has announced it would delay a peacekeeping mission to Chad because of a new rebel offensive against N'Djamena's government. Meanwhile, Lisa Bryant reports from Paris the French government is dispatching troops to bolster its forces in the central African country.

Government forces and rebels in Chad have been clashing northeast of the capital N'Djamena, prompting the former colonial power France to send in reinforcements to help the army. Rebels say they want to overthrow President Idriss Deby if he does not accept a power-sharing deal. VOA's Nico Colombant reports from our West Africa bureau in Dakar.

As European forces begin to deploy in Chad and the Central African Republic, analysts say they are worried about the logistics of the peacekeeping operation. They are also expressing concerns about the presence of the former colonial power, France. Jade Heilmann has more from our West and Central Africa bureau in Dakar.

The European Union has officially launched a European peacekeeping force for Chad and the Central African Republic to protect hundreds of thousands of refugees who have fled violence in the region, including strife-torn Darfur. Tendai Maphosa has more in this report from London.

The six French workers, employed by Zoe's Ark and found guilty of attempting to kidnap 103 children in Chad have left the country and are on their way home to France.

Chad's government has imposed a state of emergency in its eastern regions bordering Sudan's Darfur and in its remote desert north following recent ethnic clashes that killed at least 20 people.

Cameroon, Chad, CAR to Benefit from Less Costly, More Reliable Road and Rail Links

In eastern Chad, violence along the Sudanese border has forced more than 100,000 Chadians into camps. Squeezed into these tents and straw huts, they compete for water at the well and a limited number of latrines. Clinics run by international agencies try to contain and treat diseases that circulate in these often waste-infested, tight living conditions.

In Chad, people are still arriving at camps to escape ethnic violence and bandit attacks along the Sudanese border. Humanitarian workers are often the first to reach out to people escaping from burning villages, rape and looting. Because this remote border area in east Chad is considered a high-danger post, most humanitarian organizations do not allow staff to bring their families.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the latest agreement between Chad and Sudan aimed at calming tensions in the strife-torn Sudanese region of Darfur and the eastern area of the neighbouring country.

The leaders of Chad and Sudan have signed an agreement aimed at reducing tension between their countries. Chad's President Idriss Deby and President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan signed the reconciliation agreement Thursday in Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian capital, as King Abdullah looked on.