At least five people have been killed in Chad as demonstrators took to the streets demanding a return to civilian rule after the military took control following President Idriss Deby’s death last week.
“There were four deaths in the capital, N’Djamena,” including “one killed by the demonstrators”, according to the capital’s prosecutor Youssouf Tom.
One person was killed in the country’s second city Moundou, 400km (250 miles) to the south, another prosecutor said.
However, a local NGO reported nine fatalities – seven in the capital and two in the south.
The Chadian Convention for the Defence of Human Rights said 36 people were also wounded and about 12 arrested.
Tuesday’s unrest underscores the tense atmosphere in Chad following Deby’s death, with the military transition already struggling to win over a population exhausted by 30 years of monolithic rule.
The ruling military council said on April 20 it had taken power after Deby succumbed to wounds sustained on the frontlines in the country’s north, where the Chadian army was fighting advancing rebels.
The council, headed by Deby’s son Mahamat Idriss Deby, who was declared president, has said it will oversee an 18-month transition to elections.
After the violent protests on Tuesday, Mahamat Deby promised an “inclusive national dialogue” and also pledged to “fight terrorism and respect all its international obligations”.
A spokesman for the council said security forces were attempting to contain the protesters while limiting material damage.
Police were deployed in Ndjamena to break up the planned demonstrations called by the opposition and civil society groups. They reportedly used tear gas in the capital to disperse small groups of demonstrators, some of whom burned tyres.
Some opposition politicians have called the military takeover a coup and asked supporters to protest, even as the army on Monday appointed a civilian politician, Albert Pahimi Padacke, as prime minister of a transitional government.
The military council had banned protests, saying more demonstrations that could lead to disorder, while the country was still in mourning.
Trucks loaded with soldiers were seen patrolling the streets around central Ndjamena.
French President Emmanuel Macron has condemned the repression of demonstrations and the violence that took place this morning in Ndjamena.
France has been a key ally in Chad’s battle against a revolt that has swept across the Sahel, though Macron has said he intends to eventually reduce the 5,100-strong Barkhane force Paris has deployed in the region for nearly a decade.
By:Isaac Clottey
