Battle of N'Djamena (2008) - Casualties and Refugees

Casualties and Refugees

No confirmed numbers of dead were reported, but people on the ground reported bodies lying in the city streets. Aid agency MSF said on February 3 there were "a lot of dead bodies" in the city, and that 300 people were being treated in hospitals. After the battle, MSF said that hospitals had counted 100 killed civilians and nearly 700 wounded. Red Cross officials spoke on February 5 of "hundreds" of civilians killed in the fighting, and over a thousand wounded. They later said over 160 civilians had been killed. Avenue Mobutu, a main thoroughfare, and other streets, were strewn with military and civilian victims and the charred remains of tanks and pick-up trucks using in the fighting. On March 6, President Déby gave an estimate of 700 killed in the city, most of them civilians. Most humanitarian staff were evacuated from Chad, and at least 30,000 refugees migrated to Cameroon according to the UN official Sophie de Caen.

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