Abéché
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Abéché is the 4th largest city in Chad, the capital of Ouaddaï Region. It has a population of 54,628 (as of 1993).
The city of Abéché was made capital of the Ouaddai Kingdom -Sultanat de Quaddai- in the 1890ies, after the wells of the original capital Ouara had dried out. In 1909, french troops invaded the Kingdom and took garrison in Abéché. France took power, the sultan had to renounce his throne. At that time, Abéché was the largest city in Chad with 28,000 people, however major epidemics reduced the population to 6000 in 1919. In 1935, the sultanate was restaurated by orders of the French government, Muhammed Ouarada, heir to the throne after his father became king. Once one of the strongholds of the arabic slave trade route, the city is known today for its markets, mosques, church, square (the Place de l'Indépendance) and for its sultan's palace. Abéché has several schools, a hospital, a university and is one of the major garrisons of the Armee Nationale du Tchad ANT . There is a small airport (IATA: AEH, ICAO: FTTC), Airport ID: AE, operated sunrise to sunset (SR-SS) with flights to N'Djaména.
On 25 November 2006, the city was taken by the Union of Forces for Democracy, a rebel group that seeks to depose president Idriss Déby. Extensive looting took place during the night. On the same day, nearby Biltine was captured by the Rally of Democratic Forces, another rebel group. A day later, both cities were retaken by the Chadian army[1].
On October 30, 2007, the city came to international attention when 17 French volunteers working for the charity Zoé's Ark were arrested there for alleged child abduction.
Abeche is the centrum for the delivery of humanitarian assistance for approx. 240,000 Darfurian refugees living in 12 camps east of the town, in the border region to Sudan. A number of organizations opened office 2003 and 2004, e.g. UNHCR, the Red Cross, the German GTZ and UNICEF.
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