Chad: death of Saleh Déby Itno, uncle and opponent of the president

“He was evacuated during the night from Monday to Tuesday towards the United Arab Emirates for treatment. Arriving in Egypt, he passed away on Tuesday,” one of his relatives told AFP.

“His body was repatriated (in the night) from Egypt, the funeral prayer took place this morning (Wednesday) and the body will be transferred to Amdjarasse in the east of the country where he will be buried next to his great brother Idriss Déby Itno,” said the same source.

General Saleh Déby Itno joined the PSF chaired by Yaya Dillo Djérou at the beginning of 2024. The latter was considered the most credible opponent of Mahamat Déby until he was killed on February 28 by soldiers in the assault on the PSF headquarters, two months before the presidential election.

Arrested during this assault, Saleh Déby Itno spent five months in prison before being released.

“The PSF considers the death of Comrade Saley Déby Itno as a murder which is part of the same logic as the assassination of President Yaya Dillo Djérou Betchi and the other comrades,” denounced the party in its press release published on Facebook.

Read also: Chad: President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno now marshal

On Thursday, 23 members of Yaya Dillo Djérou's family, also arrested during the assault, were released. But the secretary general of the PSF, Robert Gam, was not, a member of the family told AFP.

Human rights organizations regularly denounce the violent repression – sometimes bloody – of all opposition in Chad.

Mahamat Déby was proclaimed by the army on April 20, 2021 head of state, at the head of a junta of 15 generals, upon the death of his father Idriss Déby Itno, killed by rebels after 30 years in power.

In May 2024, Mahamat Déby was elected president in a vote boycotted by part of the opposition and described by international NGOs as “neither free”, “nor credible”.

Provincial and local elections and the first legislative elections since 2011 are to be held on Sunday. But the opposition parties are calling for a boycott of the vote, a “masquerade” played out in advance according to them.