CHAD’S MILITARY CLAIMS VICTORY OVER NORTHERN REBEL GROUP

Mon 10 May 2021:

Chad’s military says it has managed to defeat rebels from the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) group and the situation in the country is now under control.

“The triumphant return of the army to the barracks today heralds the end of operations and Chad’s victory,” the army’s Chief of the General Staff Abakar Abdelkerim Daoud told reporters on Sunday, as quoted by France 24.

Soldiers returned from the northern front line on Sunday. Crowds gathered in Chad’s capital N’Djamena, where 156 captured rebels were on display. According to local media reports, one of the FACT commanders was among the captured.

The Transitional Military Council that assumed power in Chad after the death of President Idriss Deby formed a new government headed by Prime Minister Albert Bahimi Badaki earlier in May.

Most of the ministers from Deby’s cabinet retained their posts. A new national reconciliation ministry was also created, to be headed by former rebel chief Acheick Ibn Oumar.

Chad’s military announced on April 20 that 68-year-old Idriss Deby, who had been re-elected for his sixth presidential term, died from wounds he sustained during clashes between government troops and the rebels in the country’s north. Chad’s military dissolved the previous government, announcing that the Transitional Military Council would rule the country for 18 months, until new elections are held.