Sudan cuts diplomatic ties with Chad

Khartoum: Sudan broke off diplomatic relations with Chad on Sunday and extended a curfew in Khartoum indefinitely after an attack by Darfur rebels in the Sudanese capital.

Chad's government said in a statement it regretted Sudan's "surprising" decision to break off diplomatic relations. "Chad can only taken note of this hasty decision with regret," it added.

Khartoum governor Abdel Haleem Al Mutafi said the curfew has been extended because some Darfur rebels were still on the loose the attack in Khartoum.

"We have lots of wandering defeated fighters ... and we are chasing them and we don't want civilians to get caught in the cross fire," Al Mutafi said.

Some fighting could still be heard in the far west of Omdurman in Khartoum state on Sunday, witnesses said.

Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir also announced on state television on Sunday that Sudan was cutting off diplomatic relations with Chad.

The Sudanese government accused Chadian President Idriss Deby of supporting the attack on Saturday.

Darfur rebels fought Sudanese troops in a suburb of Khartoum on Saturday in a bid to seize power, but the government said the attack on the capital had been defeated.