AT LEAST 50 PEOPLE KILLED AND 300 INJURED IN CHAD AS PROTESTS FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE TURN VIOLENT
No fewer than 50 people were reportedly killed while 300 were injured by Chadian Police operatives as protest rocks Chad over a demand for a quicker transition to democratic rule from military regime on Thursday.
Prime Minister Saleh Kebzabo, who gave the death toll at a news conference, said the government was still compiling casualties from what he described as an armed insurrection.
But human rights groups said that unarmed civilians were massacred as security forces brutally cracked down on demonstrations in the capital, N’Djamena, and several other cities.
The vast, military-run Central African nation has been in crisis since the April 2021 death of President Idriss Deby, who ruled with an iron fist for three decades.
His son, Mahamat Idriss Deby, seized power in the immediate aftermath and initially promised an 18-month transition to elections, but on Oct. 1 he announced they would be pushed back by two years
Opposition and civil society groups called for the protests on Thursday, which would have marked the end of an initially agreed-upon 18-month transition period.
The government banned them, citing security reasons.
But demonstrators showed up early in the morning, barricaded roads, and torched the party headquarters of the new prime minister.
"What happened today is an armed popular uprising to seize power by force and those responsible for this violence will face justice," Mr Kebzabo said.
He was an opponent of Mr Deby's regime and was named prime minister of a new "unity government" last week.
"The demonstrators had firearms and they are considered rebels," Mr Kebzabo said.
"The security forces responded only in self-defense."
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