Chad rebels set sights on capital amid power transition

REBEL forces set their sights on Chad’s capital yesterday following the battlefield death of President Idriss Deby, a move that threatens to bring even more turmoil to a country vital to international efforts to combat Islamist militants in Africa.

A spokesperson for the Libyan-based rebel group, known as the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (Fact), said their aim was to bring democracy to the country after years of authoritarian rule by Deby.

Rebel forces, who poured over the vast country’s northern border last weekend, were now in Kanem region about 200-300km north of the capital N’Djamena.

In N’Djamena, schools and some businesses were open yesterday but many people were staying home and the streets were quiet, a reporter said. Authorities have imposed a night curfew and closed land and air borders. .

Deby, 68, died on Monday on the front line in a battle against Fact fighters, shocking the nation and raising concerns among Western allies who had long counted on him as an ally in their fight against Islamist groups.

He had held power since 1990 and had just been announced winner of a presidential election that would have given him a sixth term in office. His son, Mahamat Idriss Deby, has been named interim president by a transitional council of military officers.

The transitional council said the army wanted to return power to a civilian government and hold free and democratic elections in 18 months.

But Fact rejected the military’s plan and said they would press on with their offensive. The rebels were still in the region of Kanem, a Fact spokesperson said. They were preparing to march on N’Djamena to “free the people”, he said. “Our objective is for democratic transitions to be a reality.”

Fact was formed in 2016 by dissident military officers and is not linked to jihadist groups.

Opposition politicians, many of whom boycotted the election and complained of repression during campaigning before the vote, also called for a return to civilian rule.

Deby had won friends abroad by sending his well-trained army to fight jihadists including Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin and groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State in the Sahel. His main ally, France, has about 5 100 troops in the region as part of international efforts to fight the militants.

His death poses questions about stability in both Chad itself and the wider region. As well as the rebel and militant threat, the military is divided and opposition to Deby’s rule had been growing.