N’Djamena, Chad Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno, who ruled the Central African nation for more than three decades, was killed on the battlefield on Tuesday in a fight against rebels, the military announced on national television and radio. The military said a transitional council will be headed by Deby’s son, Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno.
MARCO LONGARI / AFP / Getty
The stunning announcement came just hours after election officials declared Deby the winner of the April 11 presidential election, paving the way to remain in power for another six years.
The circumstances of Deby’s death could not be immediately independently confirmed due to the remoteness of the battlefield. It was not known why the president would have visited the front lines in northern Chad or participated in ongoing clashes with the rebels who opposed his rule.
A former army commander, Deby first came to power in 1990 when his rebels overthrew then-President Hissene Habre, who was later convicted of human rights violations at an international tribunal in Senegal.
Over the years, Deby had survived numerous armed uprisings and managed to stay in power until this latest uprising led by a group calling itself the Front for Change and Concord in Chad.
The rebels are believed to have been armed and trained in neighboring Libya before entering northern Chad on April 11. Their arrival came on the same day that the President of Chad was seeking a sixth term on election day, which was boycotted by several candidates from the highest opposition.
Deby’s regime has been fighting persistent uprisings for years, and opposition parties have boycotted previous elections. Its state security forces have been accused by the international rights group Amnesty International of “a regime of murder, torture and enforced disappearance of suspected opponents of the government”.