Yamena, Chad
The President of Chad, Idriss Déby, died last night after being injured fight Chadian rebels from Libya, his party’s spokesman, the Movimiento de Salvación Patriótica (MSP), confirmed to Efe today.
President Idriss Déby Itno had gone on to personally participate in the struggle. He was wounded by a bullet on Saturday. He was transferred to the French military hospital (in N’Djamena, the capital), where he died Monday evening, ”MSP spokesman Jean-Bernard Padare told Efe.
Déby, who ruled Chad He died for 30 years on the same day he was declared the winner, with 79.32% of the vote, of the April 11 presidential election.
Election day passed quietly, but the same day Chadian rebels came from the front for variety and unity in Chad (FACT, in its abbreviation in French) carried out a raid on national territory with the intention of overthrowing Déby.
Deby, president of Chad Since 1990, to be buried with military honors in a solemn ceremony this Friday, he has been aiming for his sixth term in the elections against six other candidates, who had virtually no chance of victory.
“As he does every time the republican institutions are seriously threatened, he has led the heroic battles against the terrorist hordes coming from Libya,” army spokesman General Azem Bermandoa Agouna said on state television today.
The information from Chad They have been confusing for the past few days because, while the FACT assured on April 13 that it controlled the province of Tibesti in the far north of the country, and on April 18 that of Kanem, in the west, the military denied it. .
Last Sunday, the Chadian military claimed they killed more than 300 FACT rebels and detained more than 150 in Kanem province.
But FACT’s political coordinator and communications officer, Kingabé Ogouzeimi de Tapol, told EFE that while “the fighting was certainly fierce,” the damage was “massive on both sides” and that 300 fighters had not been lost.
Likewise, the FACT stated in a statement this Monday evening that they had been on the road since Sunday N’Djamena and alluded to “hundreds of corpses, wounded and prisoners” among the members of the Chadian army.
In the same statement, he announced that at least 15 senior officers had died, were missing or wounded and were on the run, finding Déby’s name on the list, indicating that he was injured and on the run.
This advance of the FACT has reminded many Chadians of the events that took place between February 2 and 4, 2008, when a rebel coalition was on the verge of overthrowing the country’s president.
After announcement of the death of Débythe military reported the creation of a transitional military council (CMT) to “ensure the defense of our country in this situation of war against terrorism and the forces of evil to ensure the continuity of the state”.
The CMT is chaired by the deceased’s son, General Mahamat Idriss Déby, 37, who becomes Africa’s youngest head of state.
“FIGHT TO ITS LAST BREATH”
The military stated that the CMT will be the authority of Chad for 18 months, after which “free, democratic and transparent elections will be held in the spirit of sacrifice with which the Marshal of Chad …Idris Déby) fought all his life until his last breath. “
In addition, military authorities have dissolved the constitution, government, and parliament and declared a 14-day national mourning, a curfew from 6:00 p.m. local time (5:00 p.m. GMT) to 5:00 a.m. (4:00 a.m. GMT) nationwide. territory, and the closure -to further order- of land and air borders.
The constitution stipulates that, in the event of the death of the head of state, the President of the National Assembly (Parliament) must take over power so that elections are held between 45 and 90 days, so the military’s decision was labeled unconstitutional various analysts.
However, the military spokesman assured the Chadian people that “all measures have been taken to ensure peace, security and republican order”; and called for “dialogue and peace” to “build together Chad“.
The French Presidency responded quickly to the death of Déby, which had become the great indispensable ally of France and the West in the Sahel, especially in the fight against jihadism.
“Chad is losing a great soldier and president who have worked tirelessly for three decades for the security of the country and the stability of the region. France is losing a brave friend,” the French presidency said in a statement.
In addition, France pushed for a peaceful transition Chad and stressed the French “strong commitment” to the “stability and territorial integrity of.” Chad“.
Many African leaders, including the presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Senegal, Madagascar, Burkina Faso or Cameroon, also complained of death in the battle for Déby, recalling that he was fulfilling his duty as supreme command of the army. .
“The disappearance of Marshal Idriss Déby Itno is a huge loss to Chad, Central Africa and our continent, which he has served tirelessly,” said Cameroonian President Paul Biya. EFE