Heavy shooting of gunfire erupted around the presidential palace Chad’s capital, N’Djamena on Wednesday for about 30 minutes, local sources said.
But officials at the General Staff of the Chadian Armed Forces told the Alwihda Info news website that the situation was now under control. “Situation under control”, says official, adding, “It’s an attempt at destabilization”.
The source of the gunfire remains unknown. But a report by AFP, quoting Chadian foreign minister, Abderaman Koulamallah said the assault had been launched by a 24-man commando unit, adding that six of the attackers had suffered injuries.
Unconfirmed reports said members of the Boko Haram terrorist group were involved in the attack and that several of them had been neutralized.
A statement by the government said that “an attempt at destabilization has been eradicated.”
“In videos filmed and broadcast by soldiers of the presidential guard shortly after the clashes, we see numerous bodies of attackers eliminated within the grounds of the Presidential Palace,” it added.
The incident came just hours after a visit to the palace by China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, who met the Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno as well as Prime Minister Allamaye Halina, and other senior officials.
The government of Chad has insisted the situation in N’Djamena is stable after the gunshots, playing down the situation.
Koulamallah said in a video apparently recorded within the palace complex that there had been a “little incident” but that “everything is calm”.
Sources close to the government said clashes had occurred between security forces and “terrorist elements”.
The French news agency AFP quoted Koulamallah as saying that 18 attackers and a member of the security forces had been killed.
Chad is a landlocked country in northern-central Africa which, since gaining independence from France in 1960, has seen frequent periods of instability and fighting, most recently between government forces and those of Islamist group Boko Haram.
Déby was installed by the military in 2021 after his father, Idriss Déby, was killed in a battle with rebel forces after 30 years in power.
Following the incident on Wednesday, tanks were seen in the area and all roads leading to the palace were closed, the AFP said.
In the video, posted to Facebook, Koulamallah is seen surrounded by members of the government forces.
“Nothing serious has happened,” he says.
“We are here and we will defend our country at the price of our blood. Be calm.
“This whole attempt at destabilisation has been thwarted.”
He is then seen taking photos and raising his fist with the soldiers. (With Agency Reports)
