Chad | African News Today

Clashes Between Chad Gold Miners Leave 100 Dead

31May

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Armed Forces, News, Violence

Clashes Between Chad Gold Miners Leave 100 Dead

Fighting between informal gold miners in a remote part of northern Chad has left around 100 people dead and 40 injured, the government says. What began as a "mundane dispute between two individuals... degenerated", Defence Minister Daoud Yaya Brahim told the AFP news agency. The mountainous Kouri Bougoudi district near the Libyan border attracts miners from across Chad and its neighbours. The clashes occurred last week but details are only emerging now. Some groups have put the death toll higher than the authorities, and have blamed the security forces for a number of the deaths. Read Also: Two More Miners Found Dead In Flooded Burkina Faso Mine The government sent a mission to the affected area - about 1,000km (620 miles) north-east of the capital, N'Djamena - wh...

Niger President Says Mali’s Withdrawal Marks ‘Death’ Of G5 Sahel Alliance

19May

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Mali, News, Niger, Security, Terrorism

Niger President Says Mali’s Withdrawal Marks ‘Death’ Of G5 Sahel Alliance

Niger's President has said Mali's withdrawal from the G5 Sahel, a multinational force created to fight Islamist militants, will mark the end of the alliance. President Mohamed Bayoum made the remarks in an interview with French daily La Croix. Bazoum said Mali's isolation was undermining the fight against insurgents. Bamako this week announced that it was quitting the G5 Sahel, after being blocked from assuming the group's rotating presidency. It blamed 'a state outside the region' for trying to foment divisions among the member states. Created in 2014, the alliance which also includes Mauritania, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Niger was to help the countries jointly tackle Islamist militants. Read Also: Mali Withdraws From Regional Anti-jihadist Force Since 2020, Mal...

Mali Withdraws From Regional Anti-jihadist Force

16May

By Chukwuebuka FestusNo Comments

Armed Forces, Mali, News, Security

Mali Withdraws From Regional Anti-jihadist Force

Mali said Sunday it was withdrawing from a west African force fighting jihadists to protest its being rejected as head of the G5 regional group, which also includes Mauritania, Chad, Burkina and Niger. "The government of Mali is deciding to withdraw from all the organs and bodies of the G5 Sahel, including the joint force" fighting the jihadists, it said in a statement. The G5 Sahel was created in 2014 and its anti-jihadist force launched in 2017. A conference of heads of state of the G5 Sahel scheduled for February 2022 in Bamako had been due to mark "the start of the Malian presidency of the G5." But nearly four months after the mandate indicated this meeting "has still not taken place," the statement said. Bamako "firmly rejects the argument of a G5 member state whic...

23Apr

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

News

Chad set to bury Idriss Deby Friday

Chad will bury veteran ruler Idriss Deby Itno on Friday as concerns mount over the loss of a lynchpin in the fight against jihadism in the Sahel and uncertainty over the country’s democratic future. President Emmanuel Macron of France, the former colonial power, will attend the ceremony along with a dozen other heads of state and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. The funeral, complete with military honours, is scheduled to take place in the morning in N’Djamena’s main square, La Place de la Nation. The ceremony is to be followed by prayers at the capital’s Grand Mosque, after which Deby is to be laid to rest alongside his father in the village of Amdjarass next to his birthplace Berdoba, in the far east of the desert country near the border with Sudan. Chad, with a well re...

Chad: Opposition Politicians, Rebels Oppose Idriss Deby’s Son Takeover

21Apr

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

News

Chad: Opposition Politicians, Rebels Oppose Idriss Deby’s Son Takeover

Following the death of President Idriss Deby of Chad, opposition politicians have kicked against the army’s choice of his son to inherit power. Late president Déby, died after being shot in the frontline in the war against rebels aged 68. The appointment of Mahamat Idriss Déby, also known as “General Kaka” has also been rejected by rebels, noting - "Chad is not a monarchy." Prior to the appointment, he has been in charge of the presidential guard and is to lead the country for 18 months until elections. Experts have told the BBC and other broadcasters that the move is unconstitutional and that the speaker of parliament should take over when a sitting president dies before organising elections. Déby's death was announced on state TV on Tuesday - a day after provisional electi...

How Former Chad President, Idriss Deby died

21Apr

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Security, Terrorism

How Former Chad President, Idriss Deby died

On Tuesday, Chad’s armed forces stunned the nation by announcing that Deby had died from wounds suffered while leading soldiers on the front line against rebels advancing from the north towards the capital, N’Djamena. He was 68. “The president of the republic, head of state, supreme chief of the army, Idriss Deby Itno, just drew his last breath while defending the nation’s integrity on the battlefield,” army spokesman Azem Bermandoa Agouna said in a televised statement while surrounded by men in army fatigues. The exact circumstances of Deby’s death, however, remain unclear. One of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, Deby governed Chad for more than 30 years. Hailing from the Zaghawa ethnic group, he grew up in the northeastern region of Ennedi. He joined the army in the early 19...

Chad President Vies for Sixth Term in Power

11Apr

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Elections, News

Chad President Vies for Sixth Term in Power

President Idriss Deby Itno of Chad is set to contest for his sixth term in office in the oil-producing Central African country. Deby who has been in power for three decades has campaigned on the promises of building schools, paving roads, and improving standard of living in the country that is battling underdevelopment. Large billboards of Deby flood the streets of the capital, N’Djamena and he is in pole position to clinch victory in the first round given that two of the prominent opposition candidates withdrew from the race as part of a boycott and a third man considered a top contender chose not to run. The only remaining opposition candidate with the resources to campaign outside the capital is Albert Pahimi Padacke, a one-time Deby ally who served as prime minister from 2016 ...