Battle of Kouri Bougoudi (2018)

According to CCMSR spokesperson Kingabe Ogouzeimi, the CCMSR offensive was launched on August 8 from Libya, with 120 vehicles each carrying 10-15 fighters.^[6] The town of Kouri Bougoudi was attacked on August 11, with around 100 vehicles participating in the assault.^[7] The CCMSR claimed the attack, and also stated they captured the town.^[8] In the afternoon, the Chadian general staff claimed to have repelled the attack.^[9] The attack was the first attack by rebels confirmed by both sides on Chadian territory since the end of the Chadian Civil War in 2010.^[6]

The CCMSR stated that 73 Chadian soldiers were killed and 45 were taken prisoner, along with four rebels killed and seven wounded.^[10] In their statement, the CCMSR claimed to have captured a lieutenant-colonel, a major, and a captain.^[11] The group demanded the exchange of the prisoners for three CCMSR leaders held in N'Djamena.^[11] The Chadian government didn't release any casualty estimates, but AFP indicated that at least three security officials - a police officer, an intelligence officer, and a colonel - were killed in the attack.^[8]

The Chadian government accused gold miners of complicity in the assault.^[12][13] Prospectors had been coming to Kouri Bougoudi since 2012 to search for gold, with many illegal gold mines being developed.^[13] In a press release on August 12, Minister of Territorial Administration Ahmat Mahamat Bachir gave gold miners near Kouri Bougoudi 24 hours to leave or face eviction by the army.^[12]

Jerome Tubiana, a researcher with the Small Arms Survey, stated that there is no evidence that the gold miners were complicit. Some miners were sympathetic to the Chadian government, and local Toubou populations were neutral in government-rebel conflicts.^[12] However, Alexandre Bish, a researcher at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, stated that many former rebels were among those who flocked to Kouri Bougoudi in the 2012-13 gold rush, and became gold panners or rebels depending on what was most convenient.^[14]

On August 16, the Chadian government launched an operation to evict gold miners from the area. That same day through August 17, the army bombed the region, injuring civilians.^[7][15] The CCMSR carried out smaller attacks against Kouri Bougoudi in September, with locals complaining that the group exploited ethnic tensions in the region.^[16]