Chad police use tear gas to disperse anti-military gov’t protests

Military authorities have banned the protest called by coalition of opposition parties and civil society groups.

Police in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, have fired tear gas to disperse crowds protesting against a military takeover that followed the death of longtime President Idriss Deby on the battlefield last month. The transitional military government – headed by Deby’s son, four-star General Mahamat Idriss Deby – on Friday had banned the protest called by a coalition of opposition political parties and civil society organisations that want the transition to be led by a civilian. Defying the ban, groups of protesters took to the streets on Saturday morning, chanting slogans and waving flags. Some held printed messages denouncing what they called a “monarchy”.