At least five people were killed on Tuesday during protests in Ndjamena and southern Chad against the junta that seized power after the death of President Idriss Déby Itno a week ago.

Protests in Chad: look back at a day of protest and repression

Tires, set on fire by demonstrators, burn on an avenue in Ndjamena, April 27, 2021. Moussa Nguedmbaye via REUTERS - MOUSSA NGUEDMBAYE

Text by: RFI Follow

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At least five people were killed on Tuesday during protests in Ndjamena and southern Chad against the junta that seized power after the death of President Idriss Déby Itno a week ago.

General Mahamat Idriss Déby, the regime's new strongman, has promised to organize “an inclusive national dialogue” while a new call for demonstrations is launched for Wednesday April.

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In a statement, the Chadian Convention on Human Rights counts a total of 9 dead and dozens of wounded and arrests and says it is "

deeply outraged by the savage barbaric and criminal repression of peaceful demonstrations

Chadian justice, she assesses the toll of the day at five dead.

Four in the capital including a woman "

killed by the demonstrators

" and one in Moundou, in the south of the country.

The testimonies that come back from the demonstrations and from the neighborhoods speak of great violence all day long.

The young people who came out to protest were dispersed by tear gas, but also by live ammunition.

Witnesses also indicate that elements of the presidential guard broke into concessions and beat people who were in their yards.

According to Larim Bao, communications officer at the National Union for Democracy and Renewal, the police were overwhelmed by the influx of demonstrators. “

There was a very large population that had come out. There were women and children. The crowd was dense, therefore, they (the police) feared that the compact crowd would form to occupy a certain space. It was at this point that they were overwhelmed and started firing, including with live ammunition.

According to our correspondent in Ndjamena,

Aurélie Bazzara-Kibangula

in some neighborhoods, tires were burned, signs brandished;

some of them read: “

No to France

”.

A Total station has been vandalized.

Protesters denouncing France's interference in Chad's internal affairs.

#Tchad The Total station in the Gassi district was ransacked.

"This is only a warning," launched a young protester, who denounces the interference of France in the internal affairs of Chad.

- Aurélie Bazzara-Kibangula (@Aurelie_Bazzara) April 27, 2021

For Succès Mascra, president of the Transformers party, the person responsible for this violence is at the head of the Transitional Military Council.

“

The son, and his arsenal made up mostly of soldiers, is showing the whole world that he is worse than the father.
Apparently we used live ammunition.
They're hired killers that we've been dispatching across town since morning.
They shoot at anything that moves

”.

This Tuesday afternoon, General Mahamat Idriss Déby, in power in Chad since the death of his father, President Idriss Déby Itno, promised in his

first televised address

to organize “

an inclusive national dialogue

”.

This Tuesday evening, calm seemed to have returned to the Chadian capital.

But the Wakit Tama coalition, which brings together opponents, civil society organizations, but also unions, calls for renewed demonstrations on Wednesday morning in April.

Its coordinator Maître Max Loangar, of the Chadian League for Human Rights, said so this evening on local radio Liberté.

►Also read:

In Chad, the opposition calls for demonstrations, unrest in Ndjamena and in the provinces

Protests in Chad: "It's a very bad start for the transitional government"

Chad: "We need civil power through the ballot box, but let's give the CMT time"

Protests in Chad: look back at a day of protest and repression

Protests in Chad: look back at a day of protest and repression

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