Chad’s national prosecutor said on Thursday that an attempt to storm the presidential palace on Wednesday evening had been foiled.
Two dozen armed men allegedly carrying “weapons, machetes and knives” attacked the palace guards after pretending to be in a broken-down vehicle by the gates.
President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno was inside the palace at the time of the attack, the motive for which was still unclear.
At the time of the attack on Wednesday, gunshots were heard near the presidency in the capital of Chad, N’Djamena and convoys of military vehicles were seen driving toward the presidency too.
The elder Idriss Deby Itno had ruled the Sahel country with an iron fist for three decades until his death in April 2021.
An attempt on Wednesday night to storm the presidential palace was thwarted, according to a statement released by Chad’s national prosecutor on Thursday.
They pretended to be in a wrecked car near the gates, and then two dozen armed men with “weapons, machetes, and knives” attacked the palace guards.
President in the palace when the attack occurred.
State prosecutor Oumar Kedelaye stated that 18 attackers were killed and six injured, adding, “They killed two soldiers and seriously wounded five others.”.
When the attack occurred, President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno was inside the palace; it was not yet clear why.
During the attack on Wednesday, convoys of military vehicles were observed driving toward the presidency, and gunshots were heard close to the presidential building in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad.
All of the roads leading to the presidency had been blocked at first, but by Thursday morning, traffic had returned to normal.
“The situation is under control,” according to the minister of infrastructure.
Aziz Mahamat Saleh, the Minister of Infrastructure for Chad, stated that the situation was being handled shortly after the first reports of gunfire.
“Nothing serious, no panic, the situation is under control,” he wrote succinctly on Facebook.
A government representative echoed those remarks.
Dot, it was a minor incident. “Everything is calm,” Abderaman Koulamallah declared in a Facebook video that he claimed was shot at the White House. “This entire destabilization attempt has been destroyed. “,”.
Elections were contested as the opposition accused there was foul play.
Less than two weeks have passed since the African nation’s contentious local, provincial, and legislative elections when the gunshots occurred on Wednesday.
Although the opposition boycotted the polls, leaving the field open to candidates in support of Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, and the government of Chad praised the elections as a significant step in ending military rule.
After the death of his father in 2021, Itno was first led into power by the military.
Idriss Deby Itno, the elder, ruled the Sahel nation with an iron grip for thirty years until his death in April 2021.
Amidst ongoing attacks by the jihadist group Boko Haram, the termination of a military agreement with former colonial master France, and allegations that Chad was meddling in the conflict raging in neighboring Sudan, the December vote took place.
AFP and Reuters: km,jsi/ab.
