AFRICA/CHAD - Doubts and many questions after the mysterious attack on the presidential palace

N'Djamena (Agenzia Fides) - "It is difficult to know exactly what happened last night," local sources in N'Djamena tell Fides. In the capital of Chad, an armed group attacked the presidential palace yesterday evening, January 8. The attack was repelled and Abderaman Koulamallah, Foreign Minister and government spokesman, published a video on social media in which he can be seen with a gun on his belt in the courtyard of the presidential palace, surrounded by soldiers, declaring that the attack had been repelled and the situation was calm.
The government had initially claimed that the attack had been carried out by members of the jihadist militia "Boko Haram", but later downgraded it to a simple criminal act committed by some bandits armed only with machetes and knives. "Among the 24 attackers in the commando, there were 18 dead and six injured," the spokesman later clarified.
"The versions presented by the government are not confirmed by independent sources," our sources say. "What we can report is that the area of the capital where we were was calm last night; there were no troop movements or special checkpoints of the security forces. Even this morning, everything seems calm in N'Djamena: there are no special movements of the military or police, while people go to work normally."
The attack on the presidential palace took place during the visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister and less than a month before the completion of the withdrawal of French troops from Chad. "The decision announced at the end of November by President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno to end the defense agreement with France and withdraw the French military was completely unexpected (see Fides, 29/11/2024)," the observers say. "It is not known what prompted the Chadian president to end more than ten years of military relations with the former colonial power. There are unconfirmed rumors linking the decision to the visit of the French Foreign Minister a few hours earlier, who is said to have urged the Chadian authorities to respect human rights."
"Among other things, the withdrawal of the French military, which was originally scheduled to take place in about six months, has been accelerated under pressure from Chad. The soldiers from France are to complete the repatriation operations by the end of January," they say.
"What is certain," our sources continue, "is that the Chadian army must act alone to ensure the stability of the country, which is threatened by internal rebellions, Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region and the consequences of the civil war in neighboring Sudan." "In addition, a food crisis is expected this year as a result of the drought of the last few months, which has led to a sharp drop in harvests," they warn. "So far, French troops have always intervened to support the ruling regime, as they did in 2008 and 2019. Now, in the event of a new attack on the capital, the Chadian army will be on its own," the sources said. The other three neighboring countries in the Sahel governed by military juntas, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, have imposed the withdrawal of French troops from their territory. After Chad, the two West African countries of Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire have now also asked France to withdraw its troops from military bases on their soil. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 9/1/2025)

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