US orders diplomats to leave Chad as rebels near capital

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has ordered non-essential diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Chad to leave the African nation due to potential insurgent attacks on the capital. The department said in a travel alert issued Saturday that it had taken the step because armed groups from the northern part of the country have moved south and appear headed toward the city. In addition to non-essential embassy staff, the families of American personnel stationed there are also being ordered to leave. The department has long recommended that Americans not travel to Chad because of civil unrest and the presence of the jihadist Boko Haram group.