The supreme power in Chad has passed from President Idriss Déby Itno, who died Tuesday, to a military council headed by one of his sons, Mahamat Kaka. Agence France-Presse reported this on Tuesday, citing a statement from Chad's army command.
"The military council will lead the country for the next 18 months," army spokesman Colonel Azema Bermandoa announced.
The Chadian Military Council announced the dissolution of the government and parliament, the South African Broadcasting Corporation SABC noted. At the same time, Chad's external borders were closed and a curfew was imposed.
The military, led by the son of the deceased president and commander of the presidential guard, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, will lead the country for the next 18 months, after which elections will be held. "[The military] council has already met and adopted a transition charter," army spokesman Azema Bermandoa announced in a televised statement.
On the situation in the country
Chad's president since 1990, Corps General Idriss Déby Itno, died Tuesday of wounds he sustained while fighting against rebels. According to the army, the head of state was fatally wounded in the fighting last weekend as he personally led an operation to destroy rebel units north of the capital, N'Djamena.
Earlier in the day, the Chadian Electoral Commission announced that 68-year-old Déby Itno had won the country's presidential election on April 11, re-electing him for a sixth term. He received 79.32 percent of the total number of voters.
The heavily armed rebel group Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) withdrew from its bases in Libya and invaded Chadian territory in the Zouarque region on Election Day, April 11. Government troops, which included armored units, met the rebel columns 300 km north of N'Djamena on April 17 and defeated them. More than 300 insurgents were killed and another 150 were taken prisoner. The president personally directed the operation. In the course of it he was mortally wounded. Idriss Deby Itno was married several times and has numerous children.
The Front for Change and Concord in Chad was created in 2016 in the north of the country. It declared its goal to overthrow President Idriss Déby Itno and the regime he created.
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Based on materials from TASS