Africa
Chad Security Foils Gunmen Attack Near Presidential Office
A security source described the situation as an attempted terrorist attack.
N’Djamena, Chad — Security forces in Chad foiled an attempted attack near the presidential office in the capital, N’Djamena, on Wednesday evening, the government announced.
It was gathered that gunfire erupted in the vicinity of the presidential headquarters, prompting swift action by the military, which immediately sealed off the surrounding streets.
Government spokesperson Abderaman Koulamallah addressed the situation in a video shared on Facebook from the presidential compound, assuring the public that the threat had been neutralized.
“It was a little incident … everything is calm,” Koulamallah stated. “This whole attempt at destabilisation has been thwarted.”
Reuters reported that Wednesday’s events unfolded during an official visit by China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, to Chad.
The visit came shortly after Chad ended a longstanding defense cooperation agreement with France, a key Western ally in the fight against Islamist militants in the Sahel region of West and Central Africa.
Koulamallah, armed with a handgun and flanked by soldiers in fatigues holding assault rifles, posed for photographs and promised to provide further details later.
A security source described the situation as an attempted terrorist attack.
“Individuals in three vehicles attacked the military camps near the president’s office, but the army neutralized them,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Earlier, residents reported hearing intense gunfire in the area. “I’m stuck at Place de la Nation in front of the president’s office because I hear heavy gunfire and see military vehicles coming from all directions,” said Abbas Mahamout Seid, a motorcyclist caught near the scene.
Chad is currently led by President Mahamat Idriss Deby, who took power in 2021 after the death of his father, longtime leader Idriss Deby.
The elder Deby, who ruled Chad for three decades following a coup in the early 1990s, was killed by rebels while visiting troops on the frontlines in the country’s north.
However, despite its oil wealth, Chad remains one of Africa’s poorest nations.
