Chad president dies in front-line battle with rebels
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Chad’s President Idriss Deby, who ruled his country for more than 30 years, has been killed on the front line against rebels in the north.
Deby’s son, Mahamat Kaka, was named interim president by a transitional council of military officers, spokesperson Azem Bermendao Agouna said in a broadcast on state television.
Deby, 68, came to power in a rebellion in 1990 and was one of Africa’s longest-ruling leaders, surviving numerous coup attempts and rebellions.
His death was announced the day after he was declared the winner of a presidential election that would have given him a sixth term in office.
Most of the opposition, which had long complained of his repressive rule, boycotted the vote.
Deby — who often joined soldiers on the battlefront in his military fatigues — visited troops on the front line on Monday after rebels based across the northern frontier in Libya advanced hundreds of kilometers south toward the capital N’Djamena.
“Marshal Idriss Deby Itno, as he did each time that the institutions of the republic were gravely threatened, took control of operations during the heroic combat led against the terrorist from Libya. He was wounded during the fighting and died once repatriated to N’Djamena,” Bermendao said.
The government and National Assembly have been dissolved and a nationwide curfew imposed from 6pm to 5am.
“The National Council of Transition reassures the Chadian people that all measures have been taken to guarantee peace, security and the republican order,” the spokesperson said.
Deby had pushed through a new constitution in 2018 that would have allowed him to stay in power until 2033 — even as it reinstated term limits.
He took the title of Marshal last year and said before last week’s election: “I know in advance that I will win, as I have done for the last 30 years.”
Deby faced mounting public discontent over his management of the country’s oil wealth and crackdowns on opponents.
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