N’Djamena, Chad Security forces in Chad successfully thwarted an attempt to destabilize the country on Wednesday evening, following bursts of gunfire near the presidential office in the capital, N’Djamena. Streets surrounding the area were swiftly cordoned off by the military, and calm was restored, according to the government.
In a video recorded at the presidential headquarters, government spokesperson Abderaman Koulamallah assured citizens that the situation was under control, describing the incident as a minor disturbance. “It was a little incident… everything is calm,” Koulamallah said in the video posted on Facebook. He further claimed that the “destabilisation attempt” had been foiled.
Although the government did not immediately disclose specific details, a security source described the event as an attempted terrorist attack. “Individuals in three vehicles attacked the military camps around the president’s office, but the army neutralised them,” the source stated under anonymity.
Witnesses in the vicinity reported hearing intense gunfire. “I am stuck at Place de Nation in front of the president’s office, because I hear intense gunfire and military vehicles coming from all directions,” said Abbas Mahamout Seid, a resident caught in the chaos while riding his motorcycle.
The incident unfolded during an official visit by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Chad recently ended a long-standing defence pact with France, signaling a shift in its alliances amid growing tensions in the Sahel region, which is plagued by Islamic militancy.
President Mahamat Idriss Deby, who took power after his father, Idriss Deby, was killed during a battle with rebels in 2021, currently leads Chad. The elder Deby had ruled the country since a coup in the early 1990s, making Chad a pivotal Western ally in combating insurgencies in West and Central Africa.
Chad, despite being rich in oil, remains one of Africa’s poorest nations. With tensions high in the Sahel and shifting geopolitical dynamics, this latest incident underscores the country’s fragile stability. Further details on the thwarted attack are expected from the government in the coming days.
