Yamena, Chad
President of Chad, Idriss Déby, died last night after being injured in the fight against the rebels in Chad in Libya, his party’s spokesman, the Movimiento de Salvación Patriótica (MSP), confirmed to Efe today.
“President Idriss Déby Itno has left to attend in person the fight. That’s how he was wounded by a bullet on Saturday. He was transferred to the French military hospital (in N’Djamena, the capital), where he died on Monday night, “MSP spokesman Jean-Bernard Padare told Efe.
Déby, who drove Chad For 30 years, he died on the same day he was proclaimed the winner, with 79.32% of the vote, in the presidential elections held on April 11.
Election Day passed calmly, but on the same day, Chadian rebels in the Alternation Front and Concord in Chad (FACT, in its acronym in French) made a raid on the national territory with the intention of overthrowing Déby.
Deby, President of Chad Since 1990, which will be buried next Friday in a solemn ceremony with military honors, he has sought his sixth term in the election against six other candidates, who have had virtually no chance of victory.
“As he does every time the republican institutions are seriously threatened, he has taken the lead in the heroic battles against the terrorist hordes coming from Libya,” army spokesman Azem Bermandoa Agouna said on state television today.
Information from Chad They have been confused in recent days because, while the FACT assured on April 13 that it controls the province of Tibesti, in the extreme north of the country, and on April 18, in Kanem, in the west, the Army denied it.
Last Sunday, the Chadian army claimed to have 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 although “the fight was certainly tough”, the damage was “enormous on both sides” and 300 fighters were not lost.
Likewise, FACT indicated in a statement on Monday evening that, since Sunday, they were heading towards N’Djamena and alluded to “hundreds of corpses, wounded and prisoners” among members of the Chadian army.
In the same statement, he announced that at least 15 senior officers had died, were missing or injured on the run, with Déby’s name found on the list indicating that he had been injured on the run.
This advance of the FACT reminded many Chadians of the events of February 2-4, 2008, when a rebel coalition was about to overthrow the country’s president.
After announcing his death Déby, The Army reported the establishment 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 will be chaired by the deceased’s son, 37-year-old General Mahamat Idriss Déby, who will become Africa’s youngest head of state.
“FIGHTED TO THE LAST BREATH”
The military said the CMT would be the authority of Chad for 18 months, after which “free, democratic and transparent elections will take place, following the spirit of sacrifice by which the Marshal of ChadIdris Déby) fought all his life to the last breath. “
In addition, the military authorities dissolved the Constitution, the Government and the Parliament and declared a 14-day national mourning, a domination from 18:00 local time (17:00 GMT) to 05:00 (04.0 GMT) throughout the country. . territory, as well as the closure – to another 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 assume power, so that elections are called between 45 and 90 days, so that the decision taken by the Army was labeled unconstitutional by various analysts.
However, the army spokesman assured the people of Chad that “all measures have been taken to guarantee peace, security and republican order”; and called for “dialogue and peace” to “build together Chad“.
The French presidency reacted quickly to his death 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 a president who has worked tirelessly for the country’s security and the stability of the region for three decades. France is losing a brave friend,” the French presidency said in a statement.
In addition, France called for a peaceful transition in Chad and highlighted France’s “strong commitment” to the “stability and territorial integrity of the Chad“.
Many African leaders, including the presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Senegal, Madagascar, Burkina Faso and Cameroon, also mourned his death in the battle of Déby and recalled that he was fulfilling his duty as supreme commander of the army. .
“The disappearance of Marshal Idriss Déby Itno is a huge loss for Chad, Central Africa and our continent, which he has served tirelessly,” said Cameroonian President Paul Biya. EFE