Chad declares state of emergency

Some Chadians are fighting back against the attackers

Chad's government has declared a state of emergency in the east, following a series of ethnic clashes.

At least 300 people have been killed this month, in violence between Arabs and black Africans, officials say.

The decree covers three provinces in eastern Chad, across the border from Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, and could be extended further.

Chad accuses Sudan of exporting the Darfur conflict, while Sudan accuses Chad of backing Darfur's rebels.

The state of emergency covers the regions of Ouaddai, Salamat and Wadi Fira, where the violence has occurred.

The government says the emergency zone may be extended even as far as the capital, N'Djamena, should things deteriorate.

"This state of emergency aims to halt the serious attacks on public order due to the rampant insecurity in these regions," said Communications Minister Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor following a special cabinet session.

The cabinet has also tightened rules on media reporting of the conflict, according to a statement broadcast on state radio with both radio and private newspapers to be monitored.

Private radio stations are banned from "reporting on issues likely to threaten public order, national unity, territorial integrity," the government spokesman said.

Last week, aid workers said that five villages had been attacked in a three-day assault by 200 men on horseback, armed with machine-guns.

Chad's government said the attackers were linked to Sudan's pro-government Janjaweed militias, accused of widespread atrocities in Darfur.

Eastern Chad and Darfur have a similar mix of Arab and non-Arab populations.

Chad's government last week called for UN peacekeepers to be deployed along the border.

The BBC's Stephanie Hancock says ethnic tensions have been on the rise in south-eastern Chad for many months, but there are signs the violence is beginning to spin out of control.

In April, Chad rebels reached N'Djamena before being repulsed.

Some two million people have been displaced in Darfur and at least 200,000 are estimated to have died in the three-and-a-half year conflict.