Chad President Idriss Deby Itno killed in conflict with rebels: Army

Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno, who dominated the central African country for greater than 3 a long time, died Tuesday of wounds suffered at the battlefield all the way through a battle towards rebels, the army introduced on nationwide tv and radio.

The beautiful announcement got here simply hours after electoral officers had declared Deby, 68, the winner of the April 11 presidential election, paving the best way for him to stick in energy for 6 extra years.

An 18-month transitional council shall be led via Deby’s 37-year-old son, Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, the army mentioned, additionally enforcing a nightly curfew of 6 p.m.

“Within the face of this being worried scenario, the folks of Chad will have to display their attachment to peace, to steadiness and to nationwide brotherly love,” Gen. Azem Bermandoa Agouma mentioned.

The cases of Deby’s dying may no longer in an instant be independently showed because of the far flung location of the combating.

The army mentioned Deby had taken “the heroic lead in battle operations towards terrorists who had come from Libya.” After being wounded in struggle, he then used to be taken to the capital, the overall introduced.

Deby, a former military commander-in-chief, first got here to energy in 1990 when his riot forces overthrew then-President Hissene Habre, who used to be later convicted of human rights abuses at a world tribunal in Senegal.

Through the years Deby had survived a large number of armed rebellions and controlled to stick in energy till this newest insurgency led via a gaggle calling itself the Entrance for Trade and Cohesion in Chad.

The rebels are believed to have armed and educated in neighboring Libya prior to crossing into northern Chad on April 11. Their arrival got here at the similar day that Chad’s president sought a 6th time period on election day, which a number of most sensible opposition applicants boycotted.

Deby used to be a significant French best friend within the battle towards Islamic extremism in Africa, website hosting the bottom for the French army Operation Barkhane and supplying essential troops to the peacekeeping effort in northern Mali.

Deby’s son, Mahamat, has served as a most sensible commander for Chadian forces participating in that effort.