CAIRO (AP) — Chad announced Monday that it has temporarily sealed its frontier with Sudan following incidents where armed combatants from Sudan’s civil war crossed into Chadian territory during recent battles.
The border closure will remain in effect indefinitely as a protective measure, according to government spokesperson Gassim Cherif Mahamat. “It aims to prevent any risk of the conflict spreading to our soil, to protect our citizens and refugee populations, and to guarantee the stability and territorial integrity of our country,” Mahamat stated.
The boundary shutdown follows weekend combat in the border community of Tine, where Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces launched an offensive. Sudan’s regular army and its allies reported successfully defending against the assault, forcing RSF combatants to retreat across the international border into Chad.
Tine represents one of the final strongholds maintained by Sudan’s military forces in the vast Darfur region, an area that has fallen under RSF dominance since October 2025.
Since Sudan’s civil conflict erupted, hundreds of thousands of Sudanese civilians have sought refuge in Chad. Officials indicated that the border restrictions will include “exceptional exceptions, strictly justified by humanitarian reasons” for those fleeing violence.
This marks Chad’s second temporary border closure since Sudan descended into warfare in April 2023, when tensions between the country’s military leadership and the RSF escalated into widespread combat throughout Khartoum and other regions.
United Nations data indicates the fighting has claimed over 40,000 lives, though humanitarian organizations believe the actual casualty count could be significantly higher.
The Sudanese crisis has generated what experts call the globe’s most severe humanitarian emergency, displacing more than 14 million individuals from their communities. The violence has also triggered disease epidemics and created famine conditions across portions of Sudan.
