By Finbarr O'Reilly
GOZ-BEIDA, Chad (Reuters) - Chadian rebels mounting whatthey say is a new offensive against President Idriss Debyadvanced deeper into the country from the east on Sunday,briefly occupying the town of Am-Dam, rebel spokesmen said.
Another rebel column attacked the eastern town of Goz-Beidaon Saturday, engaging government troops in heavy fightingbefore pulling back towards the Sudanese border 70 km (40miles) away.
Oil-producing Chad and Sudan accuse each other of backinginsurgents who have attacked both capitals this year.
"We occupied the town of Am-Dam this morning ... We did notmeet much resistance," Ali Gadaye, spokesman for the rebelNational Alliance, told Reuters by satellite phone.
"We have just left Am-Dam town. We are carrying on."
Am-Dam is a small town about 120 km (75 miles) northwest ofGoz-Beida. It is 700 km (440 miles) by road from the westerncapital N'Djamena, which rebels last attacked in February.
Abderaman Koulamallah, whose Union for Democratic Change(UDC) is part of the National Alliance, told Reuters by phonefrom France that one rebel column was just west of Am-Dam.
The separate column that attacked Goz-Beida pulled out ofthe town after fighting with government forces on Saturday butwas still in the area, he said. A Reuters reporter saw thatcolumn numbered up to 100 vehicles before that attack.
There was no independent confirmation of the rebels'location. Koulamallah said government forces had now taken uppositions on the main road to N'Djamena. "We could run upagainst them in the coming hours or days," he said.
But David Buchbinder, a researcher for U.S.-based HumanRights Watch, told Reuters in Goz-Beida that a repeat of therebels' February march on N'Djamena was improbable.
"It's already into the start of the rainy season, sothey're taking a big risk the longer they stay in the countrybecause the rain blocks their means of retreat to Sudan," hesaid.
HIT AND RUN ATTACKS
"It seems like it will be hit and run attacks in the eastfor the next week or so to demonstrate their relevance. Thegeneral consensus is that an attack on N'Djamena is unlikelydue to the rainy season ... From Am-Dam they can go up toAbeche, west to N'Djamena or back down to Goz-Beida," he said.
Government reinforcements started leaving N'Djamena for theeast on Saturday, Information Minister Mahamat Hissene said.Army sources said the reinforcements included heavy weaponry.
Chad army troops in pickups mounted with heavy guns orladen with rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) raced roundGoz-Beida in pickup trucks on Sunday, kicking up plumes ofdust, and appeared to reinforce defensive positions on the roadnortheast to Sudan.
Irish EU troops protecting refugee camps under the EuropeanUnion's EUFOR mission in eastern Chad patrolled the peripheryof Goz-Beida as well as surrounding refugee camps includingDjabal, where they came under RPG fire during Saturday'sfighting.
They returned "warning fire" at the unidentified attackers.
Metre-wide craters from the RPG blasts were visible outsidethe sprawling camp on Sunday as Irish troops briefly deployedto reassure its 15,000 refugees from Sudan's Darfur war.
Children, women in colourful robes carrying plasticjerrycans of water on their heads and men leading donkeys ladenwith firewood waved cheerfully at EUFOR troops, whose presencehas made at least some improvement to the dire insecurity.
Some of the town's mud-built walls were marked by RPGexplosions. Medical workers said at least 24 people werewounded in the attack and the government said one woman waskilled.
A thin trail of smoke rose from the smouldering remains ofa compound belonging to German aid agency GTZ, whose fuel storecaught fire in the fighting. Other aid compounds were looted.
(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say onthe top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com)
(Additional reporting by Moumine Ngarmbassa in N'Djamenaand Alistair Thomson in Dakar; Writing by Alistair Thomson;Editing by Janet Lawrence)
