Chad's junta leader orders military crackdown after opposition calls for election boycott

Chad's transitional incumbent president and presidential candidate for the party 'Coalition pour un Tchad Uni' General Mahamat Idriss Deby (C) waves to his supporters during the launch of his presidential campaign in N'Djamena, April 14, 2024. Succes Masra, leader of the Chadian opposition party Les Transformateurs (C), reacts while greeting some of his supporters from a car during the launch of his presidential campaign in N'Djamena, April 14, 2024.

In response to growing campaign violence, Chad's transitional president, General Mahamat Idriss Deby, has ordered his military to arrest angry civilians and make sure peace reigns in the run-up to the May 6 presidential election and afterwards. Opposition and civil society groups, which have called for a boycott of the vote, which they dismiss as a sham, acknowledge that some civilians have attacked members of the Deby’s campaign team.