N’Djamena (EFE).- At least 77 people were killed, including 14 soldiers and 63 rebels, in a military operation launched against a militia early Thursday morning in southern Chad, military sources confirmed to EFE.
“We were informed weeks ago of the presence of a rebel group in the area, so we prepared for the clashes and launched the offensive this morning (…),” Mahamat Adoum, commander-in-chief of military operations, told EFE today by telephone. in the province of Moyen-Chari, on the border with the neighboring Central African Republic (CAR).
“We lost 14 of our own in this combat, we killed 63 rebels and took 15 prisoners (…) we managed to repel these bandits, who withdrew into Central African lands,” added the soldier.
Chad has dozens of rebel groups that jeopardize the stability of the country, based mainly in the south of neighboring Libya and in the north of Chad.
In April 2021, President Idriss Déby Itno, who had ruled Chad with an iron fist since 1991, was killed during clashes between the Chadian Army and the rebel group Front for Alternation and Harmony in Chad (FACT, by its French acronym). .
Since his death, power has been seized by his 39-year-old son, General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, who annulled the Constitution and dissolved the Government and Parliament.
Between August and October, the country held a national dialogue to agree on the bases for a return to constitutional order, preceded in March by preliminary talks in Qatar with dozens of Chadian armed rebel groups, with the aim of incorporating them into this process.
However, the dialogue was widely criticized and boycotted by opposition parties and rebel movements for not considering it inclusive.
During these talks, it was agreed that the transition would be extended for two more years as of last October 20 and that Déby Itno would be sworn in as interim president, which generated protests from political parties, religious leaders and civil society that day.
The demonstrations in various cities of Chad, prohibited the day before by the authorities, caused at least 50 deaths, nearly 300 injuries and 621 arrests, according to official figures; although the opposition maintains that there were more than 200 deaths, 300 injuries and some 1,200 arrests, after the Army and the Gendarmerie responded with live ammunition and tear gas.
In his inauguration speech on October 10, Déby Itno announced the formation of a “national unity government” and promised a constitutional referendum and elections, after completing the transition, for “a return to constitutional order.”
From the beginning, the general has had the support of the international community, led by France, the European Union and the African Union, since the Chadian Army is one of the pillars of the fight against jihadist groups in the Sahel region. .
