A land of fire and blood.

For several hours, violent clashes took place between the Chadian police and demonstrators on Thursday in several cities of the country.

The inhabitants of N'Djamena, the capital, of Moundou, the second city of the country, as well as other localities refused the extension of the transition of two years and the maintenance in power of Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno.

These gatherings are among the deadliest in Chad's history.

The toll is heavy: “about fifty” dead and “more than 300 injured”, according to Prime Minister Saleh Kebzabo.

Opposition parties "suspended"

Calls to demonstrate had been launched since the beginning of the week, in particular by the opposition platform Wakit Tamma and the Les Transformateurs party, led by Succès Masra, one of the main political opponents of Idriss Déby.

These two parties had boycotted the National Reconciliation Dialogue (DNIS), which had extended for two years, at the beginning of October, the transition to "free and democratic" elections and ratified the possibility for Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno to present himself there, 18 months after he took power at the head of a military junta.

At a press conference, the Chadian Prime Minister announced the suspension of "all public activity by political parties and civil society organizations", including those of the Transformers parties, the Socialist Party without Borders and Wakit Tamma, collective opposition parties and civil society associations.

These organizations are suspended for three months specify two decrees.

Contacted by AFP, the leaders of the "suspended" political parties did not react immediately.

He further announced a curfew from "6 p.m. to 6 a.m.", which will last until "total restoration of order in N'Djamena, Moundou, Doba and Koumra".

Demonstrations started at the first rays of the sun

Early in the morning in N'Djamena and despite the ban on the demonstration by the authorities on Wednesday, the demonstrators "attacked public buildings, the governorate, the headquarters of the Prime Minister's party, that of the President of the National Assembly" in a climate of "insurrection," government spokesman Aziz Mahamat Saleh told AFP.

At midday the government specified that a "ten" of members of the security forces had been killed in the clashes.

Clouds of black smoke were visible and tear gas shots were regularly heard, while barricades had been erected in several neighborhoods and tires burned on the main roads of the capital, according to AFP journalists in N 'Djamena, who noticed a brief lull in the early afternoon.

“I went out to demonstrate to denounce this facade dialogue to perpetuate a system and demand a change of power.

In thirty-one years, we have not seen any positive change in our country,” Abass Mahamat, 35, told AFP.

Nearly 500 kilometers south of the capital, in Moundou, the "very violent" demonstrations began "from 5 a.m.", assured AFP a senior administrative official on condition of anonymity, who said he had recorded "significant material damage".

Excessive use of violence

The African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) have both "strongly condemned" the crackdown on the protests.

The AU called for “respect for human lives and property” and the second regretted “serious attacks on the freedoms of expression and demonstration which weaken the ongoing transition process.

France, a key ally of N'Djamena, also "condemned" the "violence and the use of lethal weapons against the demonstrators".

The United Nations deplored "the use of lethal force against demonstrators", adding that "the transitional authorities must guarantee security and the protection of human rights" and called for an "investigation".

A request also made by Lewis Mudge, director for Central Africa at Human Rights Watch, in order to "determine responsibilities and guarantee that force is only used as a last resort".

The president of the Union of Journalists of Chad, Abbas Mahmoud Tahir, demanded an "investigation to establish responsibilities" concerning more specifically the death of a young journalist, Narcisse Oredje, whose death was confirmed to AFP by a member of his family.

The young man was hit by a "stray bullet" in the abdomen, in the courtyard of his home in N'Djamena, when he was not performing his duties, according to the same member of the family.

His death sparked many messages of solidarity on social networks.


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