A “general search” of vehicles and passersby was under way on Wednesday in Chad’s capital after gunfire erupted near an opposition party’s headquarters.
The sound of automatic weapons fire earlier in the day prompted people to leave the area in the center of N’Djamena, where the main office of the Socialist Party Without Borders’ (PSF) had been surrounded by army personnel.
Presidential guard trucks were also seen headed toward the office, a journalist reported.
Photo: AFP
The government has accused the party of being responsible for a deadly attack earlier in the week on the internal security agency.
PSF head Yaya Dillo, an opponent of Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, denied any involvement in attack on Tuesday night, which left several people dead.
Dillo called the accusation a “lie,” saying: “I wasn’t present.”
“The desired goal is to prevent me, to physically eliminate me ... to make me afraid so that I don’t go to the election,” Dillo said.
The attack came a day after the announcement that Chad would hold a presidential election on May 6, which Deby Itno and Dillo, who are cousins, intend to contest.
“Anyone looking to disturb the democratic process under way in the country will be prosecuted and brought to justice,” the government said on Wednesday.
The UN special representative for Central Africa said in a statement that he was following events “with great concern” and called on “all stakeholders to show calm and restraint.”
Chadian Prime Minister Succes Masra spoke of “unfortunate and painful moments” in a post on X.
Masra, a former opposition leader recently appointed by the transitional president, “expressed his total and unconditional support for the head of state” and the defense forces.
Since about midday on Wednesday, the telephone networks and Internet were disrupted, journalists reported.
The attack on the security offices came after a PSF member was arrested and accused of an “assassination attempt against the president of the supreme court,” a government statement said.
“The situation is now completely under control,” the government said. “The perpetrators of this act have been arrested or are being sought and will be prosecuted.”
Dillo had earlier also condemned the allegations of an attempted attack against the court president as “staged.”
Deby Itno was proclaimed transitional president after his father, Idriss Deby Itno, was killed while fighting rebels in 2021.
Mahamat Deby Itno promised to hand power back to civilians and organize elections within 18 months, but subsequently added another two years of transition.
The end of the transition period was pushed back to Oct. 10.
The opposition has asked the transitional president not to run for office in the central African country.
Leading opposition and civil society grouping Wakit Tamma has accused the international community, and former colonial ruler France in particular, of supporting “dynastic succession.”
Dillo was a candidate for the presidency in 2021 against his uncle, Idriss Deby Itno.
He fled the country in February that year after security forces attempted to arrest him at his home.
The commando-style raid left several dead, including his mother and one of his sons.
He was accused by the regime of Idriss Deby Itno of making corruption accusations against the first lady.
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