At least 19 people were killed in Chad after security forces thwarted an attempt by armed fighters to storm the presidential complex in N’Djamena, the capital.
According to the government, the assault on the president’s office took place on Wednesday evening and resulted in the deaths of 18 out of 24 attackers, as well as one member of the security forces.
“There were 18 dead and six injured” among the attackers, while the security forces “suffered one death and three injured, one of them seriously,” said Chad’s foreign minister and government spokesman, Abderaman Koulamallah.
Hours after the gunfire, Koulamallah appeared in a video surrounded by soldiers, stating, “The situation is completely under control … the destabilisation attempt was put down.”
The attack coincided with a visit by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who had met with Chad’s President Mahamat Idriss Deby and other senior officials earlier that day. Deby was reportedly in the presidential complex during the incident.
President Deby came to power in 2021 after his father, Idriss Deby, who ruled Chad since the early 1990s, was killed by rebels.
A security source told reporters that the attackers were members of Boko Haram, but Koulamallah later dismissed the claim, describing them as drunken “Pieds Nickeles” – a term referencing hapless crooks in a French comic. Another security source, speaking to reporters, suggested the incident was likely an “attempted terrorist attack.” The source added that
“individuals in three vehicles attacked the military camps around the president’s office, but the army neutralised them.”
Residents near the complex described hearing loud bursts of gunfire during the attack.
This incident follows Chad’s general election held less than two weeks ago, which the government hailed as a step towards ending military rule. However, the election faced low voter turnout and opposition allegations of fraud. A boycott by opposition groups left the election largely dominated by candidates loyal to the president.
Chad, an oil-rich but impoverished nation, recently ended defence and security agreements with France, calling them “obsolete.” Around 1,000 French troops, previously stationed in Chad, are being withdrawn after similar expulsions of French forces from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, where military-led governments have grown increasingly hostile towards Paris.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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