Chad President Idriss Deby dies on front lines

Chad's President Idriss Deby. Picture: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters

Chad's President Idriss Deby. Picture: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters

Published Apr 20, 2021

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N'Djamena, Chad - Chad's President Idriss Deby has died a day after he was declared the winner of a sixth term in office.

Details of his death are unclear.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that he died visiting troops on the front line of a fight against northern rebels while AFP said he died of injuries while fighting rebels.

Deby, 68, "has just breathed his last defending the sovereign nation on the battlefield" over the weekend, army spokesman General Azem Bermandoa Agouna said in a statement read out on state television.

On Monday Deby's campaign said that he was headed to the front lines to join troops battling "terrorists".

Rebels based across the northern frontier in Libya attacked a border post on election day and then advanced hundreds of kilometres south across the desert.

Deby came to power in a rebellion in 1990 and is one of Africa's longest-serving leaders.

*More details to follow

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