Chad’s transitional military government has said it will not negotiate with FACT (Front for Change and Concord in Chad) outlaws, who are accused of killing President Idriss Deby. The group launched an offensive in the north of the country two weeks ago.
Chad’s president of three decades, Idriss Deby died of injuries following clashes with rebels in the north of the country on April 20.
The government is being led by his son, Mahamat Idriss Deby. Former president Deby, one of Africa’s longest-ruling leaders, died a day after election results projected he would win a sixth term in office.
“They are rebels, which is why we are bombing them. We are waging war, that’s all,” Military spokesperson General Azem Bermandoa Agouma told Reuters. FACT, the rebel group has said it is willing to discuss a political settlement and are ready to “observe a ceasefire.”
The military council said FACT leader Mahamat Mahadi Ali had fled into Niger and that the military has appealed for help from its neighbour to track him down. Mahamat Mahadi Ali is "sought for war crimes" in Libya. “Chad calls for the cooperation and solidarity of Niger … to facilitate the capture and bringing to justice of these war criminals,” Agouma said. On April 11, FACT rebels had come over the northern border from Libya, calling for an end to Idriss Deby’s 30-year rule. Chad had been a key partner to western nations in its counterterrorism operations in Africa.
Agouma said the rebels were seeking to collaborate with “several groups of jihadists and traffickers who served as mercenaries in Libya”. The military, on Saturday, said that it had annihilated the rebels by launching attacks at them. The current transitional government is under pressure to hand over governance to a civilian government as soon as possible. Opposition leaders have called, Idriss Deby taking over the government, a coup.
