Military sources in Chad say the commander of its army has died from injuries sustained during a firefight with rebel forces.
General Abakar Yusuf Itno was wounded Thursday near the eastern Chadian town of Adre. The sources say the rebels were backed by Janjaweed Arab militia forces who crossed the border from neighboring Sudan. Itno was the nephew of President Idriss Deby.
Mr. Deby has been trying to quell a rebellion launched against his government by a group known as the Rally for Democracy and Liberty. He has accused Sudan of backing rebel efforts to overthrow him.
The Khartoum-backed Janjaweed militias have been fighting with rebels in Sudan's Darfur region. The fighting has left some 180,000 people dead and another two million homeless.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
