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Cities Kousseri

Kousseri

Kousseri is a city far North of Cameroon, lying on the border of Chad, across the Chari River from N'Djamena. It is the capital of the Logone-et-Chari department. It is a market town, and its population has recently been swelled by refugees from Chad. It had a population of 89,123 at the 2005 Census.

Kousseri was part of the Bornu Empire. In March 1846 Omar (son of Sheik Mohammed), nominal general of the Bornu sultan Ibrahim suffered a defeat at Kousseri.

In 1900, the village was occupied by soldiers of Rabij az-Zubayr (Rabih), a Sudanese warlord. On March 3, it was taken by the combined forces of two French expeditions, one under Major Lamy from Algeria and the other under Lt. Paul Joalland from Senegal and local forces opposed to Rabih. Rabih was not in Kousseri at the time but established himself in a fort on the right bank of the Chari. Lamy did not think he had sufficient forces to attack Rabih immediately, but waited until the beginning of April when he was joined by a third expedition that was coming up on the ‘Chari’ under Emile Gentil. When he arrived with the combined forces crossed the Chari and attacked Rabih. The battle of Kousséri was a decisive battle which secured French rule over Chad.

Kousseri Kousseri on the Map
Kousseri Location on the Map