Local resident says casualties include mourners at funeral and children playing nearby. Published On 19 Mar 202619 Mar 2026A drone attack launched from Sudan has killed 17 people in Chad, according to the Chadian government, which has pledged to retaliate against any further strikes as the civil war in the neighbouring nation rages on.A spokesman for the Chadian government announced the death toll on Thursday from the attack on the border town of Tine, which had been targeted despite “various firm warnings addressed to the different belligerents in the Sudan conflict and the closure of the border”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listIt occurred as mourners gathered at a house on Wednesday for a funeral, according to a local resident quoted by the Reuters news agency, who reported there were two explosions and casualties included mourners and children playing nearby.Local government sources said it was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, according to Reuters.Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby called a meeting of the defence and security council on Wednesday night, ordering the army to “retaliate starting from tonight to any attack coming from Sudan”, according to a presidency statement.Early on Thursday, the government said Chad had strengthened its security presence at the border and could potentially carry out operations on Sudanese territory.Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) denied involvement in a post on Telegram, blaming the Sudanese army.Porous borderThe conflict in Sudan between its military and the RSF began in April 2023. The war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 12 million – nearly one million of them fleeing under fire to Chad, according to the United Nations. Advertisement The border between Chad and Sudan, which is nearly 1,400km (870 miles) long and located in a desert region, is porous and difficult to control.Almost the entirety of Darfur, a vast region in western Sudan bordering Chad, has been captured by the RSF. …
