President Idriss Déby, who left with his men to fight the rebel coalition, narrowly escaped the battle.

[1] On February 1, the French air force, which was intervening on behalf of the Chadian government in reconnaissance missions, spotted a column of rebels between Ati and N'Djamena.

A government helicopter piloted by Belarusian and Ukrainian mercenaries drew the rebels' attention and allowed Deby to evade capture.

Deby once again evaded capture, but the army chief of staff Daoud Soumain was killed in his vehicle during the battle.

[4] An article in La Croix stated on February 8 that French troops participated in the battle, on orders from Nicolas Sarkozy.