An foiled attack on Chad’s presidential compound overnight was carried out by a disorganised band of intoxicated men wielding knives and machetes who were easily neutralised by security forces, a government spokesperson said.
Bursts of gunfire rang out near the president’s office in the capital N’Djamena on Wednesday night as the military blocked surrounding streets. The government said later it had foiled an attempt to destabilise the country and the situation was under control.
The attack comes at a delicate time for Chad, which recently scrapped a defence cooperation pact with longtime partner France that made it a key Western ally in the fight against Islamist militants in West and Central Africa’s Sahel region.
The region has been attacked repeatedly for over a decade by insurgencies including groups linked to Islamic State, al Qaeda and Boko Haram.
Military authorities in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, which shares a border with Chad, have recently turned their backs on the West in favour of Russian military support.
In an interview on national television, government spokesperson Abderaman Koulamallah said 24 assailants, who seemed under the influence of alcohol and drugs, drove up to the presidential compound, dismounted and stabbed the four guards manning the entrance, killing one and injuring two.
The group then proceeded a short distance into the preidential palace before guards opened fire, killing 18 and detaining the surviving six, Koulamallah said.
The public prosecutor would provide more details, but it was “probably not” a terrorist act, he added.
“These are people that came from a certain neighbourhood of N’Djamena that I will not name. They did not have war weapons, their attempt was disorganised and completely incomprehensible.”
‘NOT WORRIED’
N’Djamena was calm on Thursday morning with daily life resuming its course. There was no additional gunfire during the night, although some residents said the military was still blocking access to neighbourhoods around the presidency.
“I am not worried,” said university student Hassan Abdelkerim. “Our president warned us that we would face difficult days because of the breakdown in cooperation with France, and I know that this sort of thing will happen.”
The attack coincided with an official visit by China Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday.
Yi’s spokesman said on Thursday that China had noted reports of the attack and that the foreign minister had successfully concluded his visit.
Chad is led by President Mahamat Idriss Deby, who seized power after rebels killed his father, longstanding President Idriss Deby.
The older Deby had ruled Chad – which is rich in oil resources but one of the poorest countries in Africa – since a military coup in the early 1990s.
