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        February 4, 2008

(CNN Student News) -- February 4, 2008 Violence in Chad - Learn about the violence that is currently taking place in Chad. ID Me CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: See if you can I.D. Me! You'll find me in north-central Africa just south of Libya. I got my independence from France, which is why one of my official languages is French. I'm completely landlocked, but my major lake shares the same name as my country. This was tough. We're talking about Chad, a country of nearly 10 million people. Violence in Chad LLOYD: The U.S. State Department is warning against traveling to Chad right now, and they've ordered the families of any Americans working at the U.S. embassy there to leave the country. The agency says that fierce battles between the Chadian military and rebel soldiers have created an "unstable security situation" all around the African nation. The French military says the rebels are trying to overthrow Chad's government. Nic Robertson has more on the situation. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NIC ROBERTSON, CNN REPORTER: Overnight, French troops secured the airport in Chad's capital N'Djamena, already alerted rebels were on their way. The French army, which has several thousand troops permanently stationed in the country, were securing one of the only military assets in this poorest of African nations. By daybreak, French and Austrian troops were protecting an estimated 700 westerners holed up in a handful of international hotels, as an estimated 400 rebels fought running gun battles with government forces. CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHE PRAZUCK, FRENCH MINISTRY OF DEFENSE SPOKESMAN: Fighting is still taking place this afternoon. This morning, three armed columns entered N'Djamena. Fighting has been taking place all day and is taking place as we speak. ROBERTSON: Rumors in the capital were rife the president had fled, but denied early in the day by Chad's ambassador to the U.S. MAHAMOUD ADAM BECHIR, CHAD AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: The situation is under control of government. The president is in his palace. The Chadian security forces and the military are chasing the rebel groups. ROBERTSON: The attackers came from the east, where they were hiding along the border with Darfur and Sudan. Aid groups saw them coming and evacuated some staff. ANNETTE REHR, UNHCR SPOKESWOMAN: All the United Nations non-essential staff was already evacuated yesterday and will be evacuated today out to Cameroon. So, the situation is really very serious for us. ROBERTSON: More than a quarter million Darfur refugees and close to 150,000 internally displaced Chadians depend on aid groups for their survival. Chad has long blamed Sudan for supporting the rebels, suspecting their the latest attack may have political motivations. BECHIR: The regime of Khartoum is trying to stop the arrival of the international forces, stop the arrival of the U.N. forces to protect the refugees. ROBERTSON: African leaders meeting in nearby Ethiopia had mass condemnation for the attack. JAKAYA KIKWETE, TANZANIA'S PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF THE AFRICAN UNION: If the rebellion succeeds, certainly we will excommunicate them from the African Union until normalcy and democratic institutions are restored in that country, if it has to happen that way at all. ROBERTSON: Chad's government has long been fragile. Only a year and half ago, President Idriss Deby saw off a similar rebel attack that also reached the capital by giving the rebel commander a top ministerial position. But in the meantime the rebels have grown stronger beyond his reach along the border with Sudan. Nic Robertson, CNN, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (END VIDEO CLIP) Promo LLOYD: All right, you heard several African nations mentioned in that report: Chad, Sudan, Cameroon and Ethiopia. But can you pinpoint their locations? You can give it a shot with our downloadable map of the continent. It's not labeled; that part's up to you. But you can find the free resource at CNNStudentNews.com.

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