Several killed in Chad after attack on intelligence agency foiled, government says
By Niamh Kennedy and Bethlehem Feleke, CNN
Nairobi (CNN) — Tensions were high in the Central African country of Chad on Wednesday after several people were killed following an alleged attack on the country’s intelligence services was foiled overnight, the government said.
The country’s communications ministry said the situation took “a dramatic turn” after a “deliberate attack” was allegedly carried out by members of the opposition Socialist Party Without Borders (PSF) on the headquarters of the country’s National State Security Agency (ANSE) in the capital N’Djamena.
CNN has reached out to the leader of the party, Yaya Dillo, about the accusations.
Dillo said in a Facebook post on Wednesday morning that the military had surrounded him and others at the party’s headquarters.
Law enforcement officers managed to foil the attack “with efficiency,” the ministry said, claiming that the situation was now “completely under control.”
The government also accused the finance secretary of the opposition party for being behind an assassination attempt against the president of the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
It’s not clear if it was a separate incident or the court president was in the security agency’s office during the attack.
The tensions come as Chad gears up for presidential elections in May which will mark the first of their kind since military leader General Mahamat Idriss Deby took over in 2020 after his father was killed on the battlefield.
“It is important to highlight that every person searching to disrupt the democratic process underway in the country will be taken to court,” the government warned.
No details on the total number of casualties from the attack were provided in the statement with the authorities promising to release the death toll “later on.”
Internet monitoring firm, Netblocks said shortly after 7aET its network data showed there had been a “disruption to internet connectivity” in the country following the reports of a “deadly attack” on the intelligence agency headquarters.
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