Less than an hour after the skirmish began, rebel vehicles that were passing to the south of Am Dam in an attempt to flank the smaller government force encountered an armored column of government reinforcements led by Hassan al Gadam al-Djineddi, chief of staff of the Chadian National Army, and General Tahir Ardah, general director of the Gendarmerie Nationale. The rebel flanking movement was eliminated, and by 2:30 the remnants of the UFR column was racing back to safe havens in Darfur, with government forces in hot pursuit.