Many Killed As Armed Men Attack President’s Office

According to the government, 18 of the 24 assailants were killed during the failed assault on the president’s office on Wednesday evening. One member of the security forces also died in the ensuing gun battle.

Chad’s foreign minister and government spokesperson, Abderaman Koulamallah, confirmed, “There were 18 dead and six injured among the attackers, and we suffered one death and three injured, one seriously.”

Hours after the attack, Koulamallah, flanked by soldiers and wearing a gun on his belt, appeared in a video declaring, “The situation is completely under control … the destabilisation attempt was put down.”

The assault coincided with a visit by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Chad.

Just hours before the shooting, Wang had met with Chad’s President Mahamat Idriss Deby and senior officials. Deby was inside the presidential complex during the attack, according to Koulamallah.

In response to the attack, China’s foreign ministry expressed strong support for Chad’s efforts to maintain security and stability.

A Chinese spokesperson later remarked that Wang had concluded his visit before the gunfire erupted.

President Mahamat Idriss Deby came to power in 2021 after rebels killed his father, long-time President Idriss Deby. The senior Deby had ruled Chad since a coup in the early 1990s.

A security source told AFP that the attackers were members of the Boko Haram armed group. However, Koulamallah later stated that they were “probably not” rebels, describing them instead as drunken “Pieds Nickeles,” a term referencing hapless crooks from a French comic.

Another source told Reuters that the incident was likely an “attempted terrorist attack.” The attackers, traveling in three vehicles, assaulted military camps surrounding the president’s office, but the army neutralized them. Residents in the area reported hearing intense gunfire.

This attack follows Chad’s recent contested general election, which the government hailed as a step toward ending military rule. However, the election saw low voter turnout and opposition allegations of fraud, with a boycott call that paved the way for candidates aligned with the president.

Chad, a former French colony rich in oil but one of the poorest countries in Africa, had hosted France’s last military bases in the Sahel.

However, in late November, the government ended defense and security agreements with Paris, calling them “obsolete.”

This came after France’s military presence was expelled from neighboring countries—Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—where military governments opposed Paris.

Senegal and Ivory Coast have also asked France to withdraw its military from their territories.