Hundreds of Sudanese refugees fleeing fighting in the Darfur region have been relocated away from the volatile Chad-Sudan border to a safer site in eastern Chad. On Monday, a second convoy of some 240 people left Ouendalou border site for the new camp at Farchana, 55 km away. They joined the first group of 148 people who had left on Saturday.

At least nine people have died from an outbreak of acute gastro-enteritis in Moundou, the main town in southern Chad, following the breakdown of its water works which has led people to drink polluted water from wells and the local river, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. The ministry said 90 people had fallen ill with acute diarrhoea and vomiting since the town's main water pumping station broke down in late December.

The government of Chad signed a fresh peace agreement on Sunday with the rebel Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT), which has been fighting a low-level guerrilla war against President Idriss Deby in the desert north of the country since 1998. The deal was signed in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, by Chad's Minister for Security and Immigration, Aduramane Moussa, and General Adoum Togoi Abbo, the chairman of the MDJT.