Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

top
Chadian President Idriss Deby has been in power since 1990

Africa

Chad’s president Deby dies after fighting rebels: army

N’Djamena, Chad, April 20 –

N’Djamena, Chad, April 20 –Chad’s newly re-elected President Idriss Deby Itno, in power for three decades, died Tuesday aged 68 of injuries while fighting rebels in the north of the Sahel country, the army said Tuesday.

The army had on Monday announced that fighting left some 300 rebels of the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) dead, while FACT claimed in a statement that Deby had been wounded — a report that official sources could not confirm.

Deby “has just breathed his last defending the sovereign nation on the battlefield” over the weekend, army spokesman General Azem Bermandoa Agouna said in a statement read out on state television.

The career military man who seized power in the former French colony on the back of a 1990 coup had been declared re-elected late Monday with nearly 80 percent of the vote late Monday.

Ministers and high-ranking military brass had said Monday that Deby was in the region on Saturday and Sunday after rebels launched an offensive from rear bases in Libya on the day of the election, April 11.

The result was never in serious doubt, with a divided opposition, boycott calls, and a campaign in which demonstrations were banned or dispersed.

About The Author

Comments
Advertisement

More on Capital News

County News

The high rate of accidents in Kenya lately have raised serious concerns.

Top stories

The students were returning to Nairobi from a trip in Mombasa.

EDUCATION

Kipsang urged Parliament to increase the blocked figure from Sh65 billion, to match the Sh22,224 capitation requirement per student for 4.2 million students in...

NATIONAL NEWS

The President also said the Executive will work with Parliament to ensure that this year's budget allocation is both prudent and accountable.

County News

Maribe, who secured an acquittal in February after a 6-year murder trial that saw her ex-boyfriend 'Jowie' Irungu convicted and sentenced to death, promised...

NATIONAL NEWS

The weather agency listed Turkana, Samburu, Marsabit, Mandera, Wajir, Isiolo, Garissa, Tana River, Lamu, Kilifi, Nairobi, Bungoma, Kakamega, Busia, Vihiga and Narok among counties...

County News

The agency said it was pursuing a third suspect who escaped the operation supported by police in Isebania.

NATIONAL NEWS

Justice Kanyi Kimondo issued the directive on Monday when he deferred a scheduled hearing after the State failed to present a pre-bail report.