Chad: N’Djamena ‘on edge’ as residents stunned by Deby’s death

Stunning announcement comes a day after longtime president was declared winner of presidential election.

Residents of Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, have reacted with shock and surprise at the news that longtime President Idriss Deby died just a day after he was declared the winner of last week’s presidential election. The 68-year-old, who came to power in a 1990 rebellion, succumbed to wounds suffered during a visit to the battlefield in the country’s north where Chadian soldiers fought against a rebel group, the military announced on Tuesday. Deby’s 37-year-old son, four-star General Mahamat Idriss Deby, was swiftly named as the interim leader of an 18-month military transitional council. The army said “free and transparent” elections will take place after the transition period. Calling for calm, it also announced a 6pm curfew and shut the country’s borders, while suspending the constitution and dissolving the National Assembly.