President of Chad died in rebel fight: he had been in power for more than 30 years

The President of Chad, Idriss Deby Itno, who ruled the Central African nation for more than three decades, died this Tuesday on the battlefield in a fight against the rebels, as the country’s commander-in-chief announced on national radio and television.

The unexpected announcement came hours after election officials declared Deby as winner of the presidential election of April 11, which gave him carte blanche for another six years in power.

“President Idriss Deby Itno has just breathed his last breath in defending territorial integrity on the battlefield”Army spokesman General Gen. Azem Bermandoa Agouna.

“With deep bitterness, we announce to the Chadian people the death, this Tuesday, April 20, 2021, of the Chadian Marshal Idriss Déby Itno,” he added.

At first, it was not possible to independently confirm the circumstances of Deby’s death due to the remoteness of the location. It was not known why the president would have visited the region or participated in clashes with rebels, who oppose his mandate.

A transitional military council was launched, led by the general Mahamat Idriss Déby, son of the deceased, for the next 18 months and have dissolved the Constitution, the Government and the Parliament, according to local media.

Authorities also said a 14-day national duel, as well as a curfew 6:00 p.m. local time (5:00 p.m. GMT) to 5:00 a.m. (04:00 GMT) nationwide, and land and air borders have been closed until further notice.

Deby’s death was announced after the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) announced the provisional results of the April 11 presidential elections last night, giving him the victory with 79.32% of the vote.

Although the elections went smoothly, the same day The Chadian rebels of the Front for Alternation and Concord in Chad (FACT, in its acronym in French), from Libya, carried out a incursion into national territory with the intention of overthrowing Déby.

April 13, FACT claims to control the province of Tibesti, in the far north of the country and on the 18th, they confirmed having “Liberation” of Kanem province, in the west of the country and on the border with Niger.

For its part, the national army denied the facts and announced that more than 300 rebels had been murdered and more than 150 detained during the fighting in Kanem province.

Likewise, on Monday evening, FACT announced in a statement that at least 15 senior officers were killed, they were missing or injured and on the run, including Déby.

In this context, the United States Department of State Saturday, ordered non-essential diplomats from his embassy in Chad to leave the African nation due to possible insurgent attacks in the capital N’Djamena.

FACT is a Chadian politico-military group made up of a few 3000 fighters, mainly by young people of the ethnic group gorane (Ditto for former Chadian President Hissène Habré, overthrown by Déby in 1990).

FACT, based in Libya, was created in April 2016 in Tanoua (far north of Chad) during a split of the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), led by Mahamat Nouri, opposing Déby.

(With information from AP and EFE)

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