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. 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. French President Emmanuel Macron condemned “with the greatest firmness the repression of demonstrations and the violence that took place this morning in Ndjamena”. Shifting his position after earlier backing the military council and its civilian allies, Macron called for a civilian unity government to be put in place to run Chad, a former French colony, until elections to be held within 18 months.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA