Security forces in Chad killed at least two gunmen and arrested 15 others who attacked two army bases in the capital N'Djamena on Monday, the government said, according to Reuters. Security has been tight in the dusty city in recent weeks after scores of soldiers fled their barracks in late September before regrouping in the remote east as an anti-government force named "SCUD" and demanding President Idriss Deby step down. Communications Minister Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor said the gunmen in Monday's attacks were thought to have been recruited to launch an armed rebellion in the central African country. He told French radio the security forces strongly suspected one or two "well-known" army officers may have been behind the action. "A network for recruiting soldiers in N'Djamena and in the south has been identified and has been watched for several weeks," Doumgor said in a statement. Around 20 armed men wearing civilian clothes attacked the Koundoul military training centre on the southern edge of the capital while a second group of around a dozen men broke into the Nomad Guard camp in the city centre early on Monday. Two attackers were killed and another 15 arrested, while some fled taking a few weapons with them, Doumgor said. Residents in N'Djamena said they had heard gunfire overnight. "The government wants to inform national and international opinion that this is a very limited, desperate act which has been contained. The situation is under control," Doumgor said.
