According to the state prosecutor Oumar Mahamat Kedelaye, Yaya Dillo, a member of the opposition in Chad, was fatally shot during a clash with security forces.
According to a witness, there was intense shooting in N’Djamena, the capital city, on Wednesday near the opposition party headquarters of Dillo. Prior to this, there were also violent clashes near the internal security agency building in Chad, resulting in multiple fatalities.
Tensions resurfaced and led to violence ahead of the upcoming presidential election in May and June. The country in central Africa is potentially regaining constitutional rule after three years of military control.
According to the witness, the city was peaceful on Thursday morning and people were going back to their jobs. However, internet service, which had been shut down the previous day, was still unavailable.
Security forces blocked off the headquarters of the Socialist Party Without Borders, which is led by Dillo, on Wednesday.
The government and the party provided conflicting accounts of the incidents.
According to a statement from the government, the national security agency was targeted by members of a political party leading to multiple fatalities. The government also revealed that a party member, Ahmed Torabi, was responsible for a failed assassination plot against the Supreme Court’s president, Samir Adam Annour. Torabi has been apprehended.
The general secretary of the opposing party informed Reuters that soldiers at the security agency fatally shot a group of party members, resulting in deaths. It was reported that Torabi was one of the victims who was killed on Tuesday and his body was taken to the agency’s headquarters. The next day, party members and Torabi’s family members went to retrieve his body at the agency, but were fired upon by soldiers, leading to the deaths of multiple people according to the general secretary.
In December, the supreme court authorized the ballot for a revised constitution which, according to critics, may solidify the authority of junta leader Mahamat Idriss Déby.
His military government is one of several juntas ruling in west and central Africa, where there have been eight coups since 2020, sparking concerns about a backslide from democracy in the region.
Source: theguardian.com
