YAOUNDE, Dec. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Chad is in a "state of belligerence" with neighboring Sudan following a recent attack on one of its border towns, which Chad has accused Sudan of backing, reports from Ndjamena quoted a Chadian government spokesman as saying on Friday.

    "Chad is today in a state of belligerence with Sudan. The friends of Chad must support it by all means possible in this ordeal," government spokesman Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor told a press conference.

    Doumgor accused the Sudanese government of supporting a group of army deserters, who formed military groups in eastern Chad and have created unrest in the past two months to press for the dismissal of Chadian President Idriss Deby.

    Last Sunday, Chadian militants coming from the territory of Sudan raided the Chadian frontier town of Adre with the collaboration of the army deserters.

    Doumgor said Sudan should take full responsibility for the attack, accusing the Sudanese government of arming, equipping and forming the military columns.

    Chad said its forces repulsed the assaults, killing about 180 of the attackers, capturing many and pursuing the others across the border into Sudan and destroying their bases there.

    Doumgor also called on the African Union and other regional bodies to take an unequivocal stance and condemn Sudan's action.

    Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Jamal Mohammed Ibrahim on Thursday denied his country's involvement in the ongoing unrest in Chad, describing it as "internal affairs to which Sudan has no relation."

    The Sudanese Foreign Ministry has also clarified its innocence in a statement issued on Wednesday.

    The statement said, "False accusation will not serve movement of bilateral relations and brotherhood between the two countries and will not help realize stability and positive interaction between overlapping population on the borders."

    Recent weeks have seen a volley of accusations between Chad andSudan, with Ndjamena accusing Khartoum of hosting rebels and a growing wave of army deserters in order to destabilize Chad and Sudan accusing Chad of supporting the anti-government forces in its western Darfur region. Enditem