To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 30 April 2009, Official Report, column 1414W, on Sudan: politics and government, what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in the Chad-Sudan border area. (276780)

We have received reports that on 1 May 2009 several hundred Chadian rebels from the Union of Resistance Forces crossed from Sudan into Chad, reaching the area of Am Dam and Goz Beida in Eastern Chad before being turned back by the Chadian armed forces. The Chadian response involved aerial bombardment, including within Sudanese territory. The current situation remains volatile with the possibility of further attacks.