Communications Minister Mahamat Gassim Cherif announced the measure on Monday, saying the decision followed "repeated violations” of Chadian territory by forces involved in Sudan’s fighting. "These incursions constitute unacceptable attacks on our sovereignty,” Cherif said in an on-record statement, stressing that Chad "reserves the right to respond to any aggression.”

The closure effectively halts all movement of goods and people across the Sudan–Chad frontier, with the government specifying that only strictly vetted humanitarian operations may be granted exceptions. Officials say the move is intended to prevent the spillover of Sudan’s war—particularly activities by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whose fighters have advanced toward border communities in recent weeks.

Security officials confirmed that at least nine Chadian soldiers have been killed in cross-border incidents since December, including clashes near the frontier town of Tine, which the RSF claimed to have captured on Saturday. While Chad has long hosted refugees fleeing the conflict, the government has grown increasingly vocal about what it describes as deliberate RSF operations encroaching into its territory.

Analysts say the border shutdown underscores N’Djamena’s concern that Sudan’s war could destabilize already fragile Sahelian security dynamics. The closure also places pressure on regional mediators, who have struggled to revive talks between the RSF and Sudanese government forces.