Breaking News

Chad says military foiled armed assault on presidential complex, 19 killed

Chad’s newly elected President and junta leader Mahamat Idriss Deby raises his hand during his inauguration ceremony in N’djamena, Chad May 23, 2024

N’Djamena, January 9 — At least 19 people have been killed in Chad where security forces said they had prevented an attempt by armed fighters to storm the presidential complex in the capital N’Djamena.

At least 18 of a force of 24 armed men were killed in the failed assault on the president’s office on Wednesday evening, the government said, and one member of the security forces also died in the gun battles.

“There were 18 dead and six injured” among the attackers “and we suffered one death and three injured, one of them seriously”, Chad’s foreign minister and government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said.

Hours after the shooting, Koulamallah appeared in a video, surrounded by soldiers and with a gun on his belt, saying, “The situation is completely under control … the destabilisation attempt was put down, everything is calm”.

Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah seen in a video apparently recorded at the presidential palace in N’Djamena

The attack coincided with an official visit by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Chad.

Hours before the shooting erupted, Wang Yi had met with Chad’s President Mahamat Idriss Deby and other senior officials. Deby was in the presidential complex at the time of the attack, according to Koulamallah.

Deby seized power after rebels killed his father, longstanding President Idriss Deby, in 2021. The older Deby had ruled Chad since a coup in the early 1990s.

A security source told the French news agency AFP that the attackers were members of the Boko Haram armed group, but Koulamallah later said they were “probably not” rebels, describing them instead as drunken “Pieds Nickeles” – a reference to a French comic featuring hapless crooks.

A security source also told the Reuters news agency that the incident was likely an “attempted terrorist attack”.

“Individuals in three vehicles attacked the military camps around the president’s office, but the army neutralised them,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Residents in the area described hearing loud volleys of gunfire.

The attack comes less than two weeks after Chad held a contested general election that the government hailed as a key step towards ending military rule, but that was marked by low turnout and opposition allegations of fraud.

A call by the opposition for voters to boycott the polls left the field open for candidates aligned with the president.

The former French colony, which is rich in oil resources but one of the poorest countries in Africa, hosted France’s last military bases in the region known as the Sahel, but at the end of November, ended defence and security agreements with Paris, calling them “obsolete”.

About 1,000 French military personnel were stationed in the country and are in the process of being withdrawn. Their departure follows after France was driven out of three Sahelian countries governed by military governments hostile to Paris: Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

Senegal and Ivory Coast have also asked France to vacate military bases on their territory.

Related posts

How Cedric Soares And Mohamed Elneny Exits will Affect Arsenal Transfer In January 

Dean Lubowa Saava

Ssentamu Churchill James Wins Makerere University Guild Presidency as Independent Candidate

Ssekanyumiza Amansa Bwino

Uganda’s Health Sector Faces Crisis Amid U.S. Foreign Aid Cuts A Call for Immediate Action

Barbra Zeka

The US. Ambassador Popp Hold a Strategic Talks on Security, Peace and Development With Gen. Salim Saleh

Dean Lubowa Saava

Museveni’s son pulls out of the 2026 election bid, urges supporters to join NRM

ndiwalanakiwa@gmail.com

WORLD NEWS : A State Of Emergency Has Been Declared In Iceland.

Dean Lubowa Saava

Museveni Proposes New Districts to Resolve Tororo Dispute

Barbra Zeka

Kadaga vs. Museveni: A Battle for Influence with A Test of Loyalty and Power.

Dean Lubowa Saava

Tensions Escalate: Rwanda Withdraws from ECCAS Bloc Over Alleged DRC Interference

Dean Lubowa Saava

Harris puts Trump on defensive in a combative debate

ndiwalanakiwa@gmail.com

Leave a Comment