Chadian rebels vow to take capital, claim responsibility for President’s death

The rebel group that claimed responsibility for Chad’s President Deby’s death vowed to continue its fight for the capital — setting the stage for a potentially bloody battle for political control of the oil-producing Central African nation.
“Chad is not a monarchy. There can be no dynastic devolution of power in our country,” the rebels said in a statement late Tuesday.
“The forces of the Front for Change and Concord are heading toward N’Djaména at this very moment. With confidence, but above all with courage and determination,” it said.
Deby’s 37-year-old son, Mahamat, is best known as a top commander of the Chadian forces aiding a UN peacekeeping mission in northern Mali.
The military said on Tuesday he now heads an 18-month transitional council following his father’s death.
However, Chad’s constitution calls for the National Assembly to step in when a president dies while in office.
Call for calm
The military called for calm, instituting a 6 p.m. curfew and closing the country’s land and air borders as panic kept many inside their homes in the capital, N’Djamena.
“In the face of this worrying situation, the people of Chad must show their commitment to peace, to stability, and to national cohesion,” General Azem Bermandoa Agouma said.
The government has only released few details of its efforts to put down the rebellion in northern Chad, though it announced on Saturday that it had “totally decimated” one rebel column of fighters.
The rebel group later put out a statement saying fierce battles had erupted Sunday and Monday. It released a list of five high-ranking military officials who it said were killed, and 10 others it said were wounded, including Chad’s President.
French ally
Deby, former army commander-in-chief, was a major French ally in the fight against Islamic extremism in Africa, hosting the base for the French military’s Operation Barkhane and supplying critical troops to the peacekeeping effort in northern Mali.
French Defence Minister Florence Parly expressed her condolences to the Chadian people, in a news conference with her German counterpart in Paris.
“What’s central to us now is that a process of democratic transition can be implemented and the stability of Chad preserved,” she said.
Deby first came to power in 1990 when his rebel forces overthrew then-President Hissene Habre, who was later convicted of human rights abuses at an international tribunal in Senegal.
Over the years, Deby had survived numerous armed rebellions and managed to stay in power until this latest insurgency led by the Front for Change and Concord in Chad.
The rebels are believed to have armed and trained in neighbouring Libya before crossing into northern Chad on April 11. Their arrival came on the same day that Chad’s president sought a sixth term in an election several top opposition candidates boycotted.

Edited by Olajumoke Adeleke