Shots fired at the Chadian presidency: “It was an attempt to undermine constitutional order” – Prosecutor

The public prosecutor at the N’Djamena court gave more details on Thursday, the day after a shooting which took place near and inside the Chadian presidency.

In a press release made public this morning, Oumar Mahamat Kedelaye described the attack as “extremely serious acts constituting, under criminal law, the crimes of assassination, willful assault and battery, and attempted attack on constitutional order, attack on state institutions, state security, conspiracy against the state and participation in an insurrectional movement.

He also indicated that investigations are already open to ”search for and identify all the instigators, authors, co-authors and accomplices of these acts, proceed with the arrests of these instigators, authors, co-authors and accomplices of these acts in order to apply them the rigor of the law.

Gunshots were heard Wednesday evening around and inside the Chadian presidential palace but according to the authorities, “everything is now under control”

It was Agence France Presse which raised the alert, indicating that heavy gunfire was being heard in the center of the Chadian capital, and that sources had told it that gunfire was also coming from inside the palace, in the surrounding area. to 8:50 p.m. local time.

A resident of Ndjamena told the BBC that the gunshots were still being heard around 9:30 p.m., indicating she was afraid.

A little later in the night, the device blocking the roads leading to the presidency was partially lifted and tanks were seen in the streets of the capital, causing unrest and tension among residents near the palace.

Meanwhile, residents of the capital reacted to the incident. One of them, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the BBC that it was a suicidal mission for any group to try to conquer the presidency on foot.

“As a resident of N’Djamena, I am not afraid because the army is strong. According to the videos we watched, the attackers were killed and a few of them were captured. It is true that this can worry us a little because we do not yet know how many there are in the country and we do not know how they will operate,” he said.

Another resident blamed Chad’s former colonial master, France. He suggested that President Emmanuel Macron’s criticism of African leaders who decided to end the defense pact with France was a trigger.

“Mr Macron said African leaders had forgotten to thank France for its help in the fight against terrorism. Chad responded with a press release and President Deby also responded yesterday, which triggered real tension between the two presidents,” he said.

Residents were mostly indoors when the gunfire erupted around the presidential building, with many suspecting it was an attempted coup.

Unverified videos circulated on social media showing bodies of jihadist fighters believed to have been killed in the attack.

For the moment, the presidency itself has not communicated on current events.

But the Minister of Foreign Affairs and government spokesperson, Abderrahmane Koulamallah, appeared in a brief live on his Facebook page, to indicate that everything was under control.

In this video consulted by the BBC, we see Mr. Abderrahmane Koulamallah, sky blue shirt with a firearm fixed to his hip, speaking in a courtyard which he presents as that of the Presidency of the Republic.

“I am currently at the Presidency of the Republic, the situation is completely under control, we cannot tell you anything at the moment,” declares the minister.

Behind him, a group of soldiers in fatigues with Kalashnikovs in their hands move back and forth, looking quite tense. A little further on, we see an armored vehicle parked.

Mr. Koulamallah indicates in particular that he is waiting for the arrival of the public prosecutor to “show the reality of what happened”.

He adds that he wants to “reassure all Chadians that it was a small incident that happened, everything has been eradicated” he declares, promising to return “at length to the situation throughout the evening ”.

We know a little more about the results. In a statement later in the evening, on public television, Minister Koulamallah explained that the exchanges of fire left “19 dead, including 18 among the attackers.”

There are also 6 injured. According to him, it was a commando, whose identity he did not specify, which numbered 25 people.

They arrived in a Dyna vehicle, he said, and “their vehicle seemed to have broken down in front of the presidency, they got out violently and stabbed the four guards who were present, and killed one, then they entered a short distance inside the presidency,” continued Abdourahmane Koulamallah.

He also ruled out the terrorist trail, and specified that the attackers had no firearms.

On January 5, 2023, the Chadian government claimed to have arrested, from December 8, 2022, 11 officers and a known human rights activist, Baradine Berdei Targuio, presented as the mastermind of an “attempt to destabilize” “the constitutional order” and “the institutions of the Republic”.

These people had been detained in the high security prison of Koro Toro, 600 kilometers from N’Djamena. Sentenced to 20 years in prison, they were pardoned by President Mahamat Idriss Deby.

Earlier on Wednesday, some 70 French soldiers and around 8 tonnes of goods left Ndjamena as part of the withdrawal of troops from the country.

The former French colony was home to the last French military bases in the Sahel region, but at the end of November last year, Chad ended defense and security agreements with Paris.

A thousand French soldiers were stationed in the country and are in the process of being withdrawn.

Three other neighboring Sahel countries ruled by military juntas – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – have removed French troops from their territories.

Similarly, two West African countries, Senegal and Ivory Coast, have also asked France to withdraw its troops from military bases located on their territory.