The international community tends to look at the conflict in Darfur as an “intra-state conflict”. In the last 30 years or so, most of the conflicts in Africa were intra-state, however, inter-state conflicts include Ethiopia - Eriteria.

In Darfur, the government is fighting the rebels (or vice versa), so, other parties involved are usually overlooked.

Ever since the conflict started in Darfur, it was known that Chad supports the Darfurian rebels because 1- the Chadian president is a Zaghawa, the largest ethnic group in Darfur, in other words, he is supporting his own group. 2- The Sudanese government supports the rebels in Chad so the Chadian government is also getting back at the Sudanese government.

Last February, the Chadian rebels attacked the capital N’Djamena in an attempt to overthrow the president, the attack displaced many people, but the government took control in a short time.

The Chadian government said that they have proof that the attack was carried out with the help of the Sudanese government.
We all put our hands in our pockets and we ignored this important piece of information.

Two weeks ago, history repeated itself. The Sudanese capital was attacked by Darfur rebels with the help of the Chadian government. The Sudanese government said ” they have proof that Chad is involved”.

International experts believe that Sudan and Chad are fighting a “proxy war”. The Sudanese government arms the rebels in Chad to get back at the Chadian government for supporting Darfur rebels.

The conflict in Darfur should not be seen as a Sudanese conflict because it is also a regional conflict. The Chadian president and the Sudanese president are both buying time for themselves, they are fighting a war to make sure they stay longer in power.

What to do?
The secret “inter-state” war between Chad and Sudan should not be overlooked, it should be seen as a step closer to peace in Darfur.
If we want peace in Darfur, we should solve the political crises in Chad as well.