Hundreds of Chadian refugees crossing into Nigeria, Red Cross says

Hundreds of refugees fleeing fighting in Chad have crossed into neighboring Nigeria, where they are wandering in search of a site to set up their camp, the Red Cross said Wednesday.

About 1,000 civilians fleeing days of battles between rebels and government troops in Chad's capital have already arrived in Nigeria's northern Borno state, where they are seeking a place to settle, said a Nigerian Red Cross spokeswoman, Okon Umoh.

Nigeria shares a short land border with Chad and a longer frontier with Cameroon, a thin slice of which separates Nigeria from most of Chad. The United Nations says some 20,000 refugees have fled into Cameroon.

Umoh said it was unclear if the refugees in Nigeria had traveled across Cameroon or had entered directly from Chad. She said the Red Cross was hoping to offer medical services to the refugees.