Chad President Idriss Déby
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
Chad President Idriss Déby has died apparently while on the front lines fighting rebels, the Army confirmed. Déby, 68, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, first came to power in an armed uprising in 1990. The late president’s son, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, 37, a four-star general, will assume power of the north-central Africa. Déby had just been declared the winner on Monday of the April 11 presidential election taking nearly 80 percent of the vote. The Chadian army reported on Monday it had killed 300 rebels who waged a major incursion into the north of the country one week ago. The circumstances of Déby’s death remains uncertain at the moment. Déby’s son will be in charge of an 18-month transitional council.
Chad Activated 1,200 troops to battle armed extremists in the troubled African Sahel region.
In February, Déby announced Chad planned to deploy 1,200 troops to battle armed extremists in the troubled African Sahel region. Déby made the announcement during the G5 Sahel Group Summit meeting. There has been an unprecedented surge in terrorists attacks in the Sahel despite the presence of thousands of UN peacekeeping troops and French soldiers. About 4,000 people have been killed in terror attacks in 2019 alone, compared with 770 three years earlier. Hundreds of UN peacekeepers have been killed. President Idriss said the Chadian troops were expected to be deployed in the tri-border region of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso to bolster France’ s 5,100 soldiers deployed in Mali as part of Operation Barkhane.
Nos efforts et ressources mutualisés, nous permettrons de coordonner nos actions pour cette lutte contre le terrorisme. #G5Sahel pic.twitter.com/8sGbVj7dvk
— Maréchal Idriss Deby Itno (@MIdrissDebyItno) February 15, 2021
