LIBREVILLE (AFP) - Chadian rebels fighting their way towards the capital Ndjamena took control Saturday of a town near the Sudanese border as former colonial ruler France condemned the rebel advance. Rebel and humanitarian sources told AFP that the town of Goz Beida, about 75 kilometres from the Sudanese border, was in rebel hands. "We captured Goz Beida ... after 40 minutes of fighting. The survivors of the Chadian army took flight," said rebel leader Abdelwahid Aboud Makaye by telephone. "We have 500 pick-up trucks with well-armed men. Our aim is to take Ndjamena by the weekend which we will, God willing," he said, adding that the government had used two helicopter gunships but "we fired at them." A humanitarian source from the town, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, added: "There are rebels in the town. There are shots being fired and I hear cries of joy." France on Saturday issued a veiled warning to the rebels, saying in a statement that "any armed action targeting Chad and its institutions can only be condemned." "We call on all concerned parties to find a political solution," said a French foreign ministry statement. Rebels in Chad said Friday they were fighting their way towards Ndjamena and threatened to target any French aircraft flying reconnaissance missions over their positions. But a Chadian government spokesman dismissed claims of a rebel advance. France, which has had a military presence in Chad since 1986, supplied most of the troops for the European Union EUFOR peacekeeping mission in the east of the country, on the border with Sudan and the war-torn Darfur region. The rebels alliance in the east of Chad called on France to stop flying intelligence missions in a statement read out to AFP by Ali Gueddei, spokesman for an alliance of rebel factions. "We are making a last, solemn appeal to France for it to immediately cease its state of belligerence towards the armed forces of the opposition," said Gueddei, reading a prepared statement by telephone. France would be better advised to "stop its repeated provocations" in providing the government forces with intelligence through its aerial reconnaissance missions, said Gueddei.