Chad closes eastern border with Sudan after clashes kill five soldiers

Chad’s government closed its eastern border with Sudan until further notice on Monday after clashes over the weekend that killed five Chadian soldiers, the authorities said. A Chadian official told Reuters the fighting also killed three civilians and wounded 12 people in and around the border town of Tine (also spelled Tina or al‑Tina).

The government framed the shutdown as a defensive measure, saying it was responding to “repeated incursions and violations committed by forces in Sudan’s conflict.” In a statement cited by Reuters and Al Jazeera, officials said the closure “aims to prevent any risk of the conflict spreading to our soil, to protect our fellow citizens and refugee populations, and to guarantee the stability and territorial integrity of our country.” The statement said exceptions could be made for humanitarian purposes with prior government approval; BBC reported the language as allowing “exceptional exemptions, strictly justified by humanitarian reasons.”

A border guard officer in Tine confirmed the deaths of the five soldiers and urged heightened security to protect civilians on the Chadian side. Reuters, citing two anonymous sources, reported that additional Chadian troops were being deployed to the border area. The BBC said the government “reserves the right to retaliate against any aggression or violation” and urged residents in affected areas to remain calm and comply with restrictions.

The weekend fighting involved components of Sudan’s long-running conflict: the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, and fighters aligned with the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al‑Burhan. The Associated Press reported that the SAF and allied groups said they had repelled an RSF attack on Tine and forced RSF fighters to flee into Chad; that claim is attributed to the SAF and reported by AP. Reuters said neither the SAF nor the RSF immediately responded to requests for comment.

The border closure raises immediate humanitarian and operational risks. Chad hosts nearly a million Sudanese refugees and serves as a corridor for humanitarian convoys into Sudan, and aid agencies warn that tighter controls complicate delivery of food, medical supplies and protection services. The government’s conditional allowance for humanitarian crossings will require prior approvals that could slow convoys and strain overstretched camps and transit points such as the Tine transit site documented in earlier UN and media reports.

The clashes are the latest example of the conflict in Sudan, which erupted in April 2023 after a power struggle between the SAF and RSF and has periodically spilled into neighboring countries. AP noted that parts of Darfur fell under RSF control in October 2025, a shift that has already pushed population movements across Chad’s eastern frontier.

Beyond the immediate human cost, the shutdown could raise security and economic costs for Chad and the region. Border closures disrupt local cross‑border trade, increase logistical costs for aid organizations, and force governments to allocate scarce resources to troop deployments and camp management. For nearly one million refugees and host communities, the closure threatens access to assistance and heightens the risk of further displacement.

Chadian officials named a communications minister in coverage by regional outlets (reported variously as Mahamat Gassim Cherif and Gassim Cherif Mahamat). The government’s announcement and casualty figures are the principal official attributions; independent confirmation of the full casualty roll and detailed troop movements remained outstanding as of the government statement.