Chad President killed in rebel attack; Military council takes over -

N’Djamena: Chad President Idriss Deby was killed in the firing by rebels. The military informed that the President died while fighting the rebels, who had come to attack N’Djamena, the capital of Chad. Only on Monday, President Deby had won the election for the sixth time. The military announced that it was taking over the reins to avoid a political vacuum being created in the country.

Last week, President Deby’s political party, Patriotic Salvation Movement, won the elections with a massive margin of nearly 79.3%. The victory for Deby had been announced on Monday. Deby, who was in power in Chad for three decades from 1990, was to assume power once again for the next six years.

But the rebel organisation Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), having its base in northern Chad, had bitterly opposed the Deby regime. It also attacked a Chad military post on the Libyan border. Following this attack, the organisation announced that the northern Tibesti region had been freed from Deby’s rule. The rebel organisation had threatened to attack the capital N’Djamena to overthrow Deby’s government.

Following the threat issued by FACT, the United States advised its citizens to return to the homeland. The United States had claimed that the FACT rebels had already reached near capital N’Djamena. But President Deby had announced that the rebels would not be allowed to enter the capital. The military also announced to have busted the rebel attacks. In this scenario, President Deby reached a frontline post of the military to participate in the conflict with the rebels.

The rebels announced that President Deby was seriously injured in the encounter that followed. But the military did not reveal any details. On Tuesday morning, military spokesman Azem Bemrandoua Agouna announced the President’s death on the government news channel. Agouna also clarified that the reins of the government would remain in the hands of the military, for the next 18 months, for the country’s security. The military has selected Deby’s son Mahamat Kaka as the interim President.

Deby was referred to as an important leader in the war in Central Africa and the Sahel region. Deby had taken a major stand for actions against Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda and IS-affiliated terrorist organisations in the Sahel region.