At least 19 people have died after an armed group attempted to storm Chad’s presidential complex in N’Djamena. Security forces reported 18 of the attackers were killed during the Wednesday evening assault, along with one security officer.
Government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah confirmed the figures, adding that six attackers and three security personnel were injured. Hours later, Koulamallah assured the public that the “destabilisation attempt” had been successfully suppressed.
The attack coincided with a visit by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who had met with President Mahamat Idriss Deby earlier in the day. The president was inside the complex during the incident.
While some sources suggested the attackers were linked to Boko Haram, Koulamallah dismissed this, describing the group as disorganized and likely acting under the influence of alcohol.
The assault follows Chad’s contested general election, criticized for low voter turnout and alleged fraud, but praised by the government as a step toward civilian governance.
The former French colony, which is rich in oil resources but one of the poorest countries in Africa, hosted France’s last military bases in the region known as the Sahel, but at the end of November, ended defence and security agreements with Paris, calling them “obsolete”.
About 1,000 French military personnel were stationed in the country and are in the process of being withdrawn. Their departure follows after France was driven out of three Sahelian countries governed by military governments hostile to Paris: Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Senegal and Ivory Coast have also asked France to vacate military bases on their territory.
