BREAKING: Chad’s President Deby dies of injuries on frontline

Chad’s President Idriss Deby has died while visiting troops on the frontline of a fight against northern rebels, an army spokesman said on Tuesday.
In a statement read out on State Television, army spokesman General Azem Bermandoa Agouna said: Idriss Deby, 68, “has just breathed his last defending the sovereign nation on the battlefield” over the weekend.
The spokesman also announced that one of Deby’s sons, General Mahamat Kaka Idriss Déby Itno, will head a military council to replace the late president.
The army further announced that “The national assembly and government are dissolved, a transitional charter will be put in place by the president of the military transitional council.”
A curfew from 6pm to 5am has also been put in place in all national territories. External borders are closed just until the new orders are in place.
“A transitional Government will be put in place, new republican institutions will be put in place to facilitate the transition by the organisation of free, democratic and transparent elections, following the spirit of sacrifice that he fought for all of his life.” The spokesman announced.
The News comes hours after the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) of the Central African nation announced that Incumbent Chadian President Idriss Deby had won the absolute majority in the first round of the presidential election.
The presidential poll took place on April 11, 2020.
Terrorism fight
A strongman from the Central African region, Deby had ruled Chad since 1990. He was France’s ally for 31 years.
In an Africa affected by the rise of terrorism, the late president was seen as the bulwark against jihadism and an indispensable man in the fight against terrorism.
According to rebel leader Mahamat Mahadi Ali, Déby went into combat on Sunday and Monday.
Fighting took place near Nokou in Kanem, a region located in the centre west of the country, where the Chadian President was reportedly wounded on the battlefield on Sunday.
Edited by Olajumoke Adeleke