チャド大統領府襲撃、１９人死亡

【ヌジャメナＡＦＰ＝時事】チャドの首都ヌジャメナの大統領官邸が８日、武装集団の襲撃を受けた。政府によると、大統領警護隊との間で銃撃戦となり、武装集団側の１８人、警護隊員１人が死亡した。（写真は、２０２４年１２月２日時点の西アフリカと中央アフリカにおけるフランス軍の撤退を示す地図）
　複数の治安筋によれば、武装集団は同日午後７時４５分ごろ、官邸内で発砲を始めた。政府は、襲撃に参加したのは２４人としている。
　アブドゥラマン・クラマラー政府報道官兼外相はＡＦＰに対し、襲撃に参加したうち「１８人が死亡、６人が負傷した」と説明。警護隊員も１人が死亡、３人が負傷したと語った。
　クラマラー氏は襲撃の数時間後、ベルトに銃を差し、兵士に囲まれた状態でフェイスブックに登場し、「状況は完全に制圧された。不安定化の試みは鎮圧された」と述べた。
　ＡＦＰ記者は現場付近で銃声を聞き、通りでは戦車を目撃した。
　治安筋によると、襲撃に参加したのは、カメルーン、ナイジェリア、ニジェールとの国境地帯にあるチャド湖の西部地域で政府軍が戦っている、イスラム過激派組織「ボコ・ハラム」のメンバーのもよう。
　旧フランス植民地のチャドは、サハラ砂漠南縁に広がるサヘル地域で、最後のフランス軍駐留地となっていたが、昨年１１月末にフランスとの防衛協力協定を「時代遅れ」として打ち切った。現在、約１０００人のフランス駐留部隊の撤退が進行中。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/01/09-16:57）

Gunmen attempted to storm the presidential complex in Chad's capital N'Djamena on Wednesday, sparking a battle that left 18 attackers and one security personnel member dead, the government said.
AFP reporters heard gunfire near the site and saw tanks on the street, while security sources reported that armed men had tried to overrun the complex.
The government later said 19 people were killed in the fighting, of which 18 were members of the 24-strong commando unit that launched the assault.
There were 18 dead and six injured among the attackers and we suffered one death and three injured, one of them seriously, government spokesman and Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah told AFP.
Hours after the shooting, Koulamallah appeared in a video posted to Facebook, surrounded by soldiers and with a gun on his belt, saying the situation is completely under control... the destabilisation attempt was put down.
A security source said the attackers were members of the Boko Haram jihadist group, but Koulamallah later said they were probably not terrorists, describing them as drunken Pieds Nickeles -- a reference to a French comic featuring hapless crooks.
He said they attacked four guards before entering the presidential complex, where they were easily overpowered, adding the surviving assailants were completely drugged.
Landlocked Chad is under military rule and faces regular attacks by Boko Haram, especially in the western Lake Chad region that borders Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger.
It recently ended a military accord with former colonial power France and has been accused of interfering in the conflict ravaging neighbouring Sudan.
Several security sources said that an armed commando unit opened fire inside the presidency on Wednesday evening around 7:45 pm (1845 GMT), before being overrun by the presidential guard.
All roads leading to the presidency were blocked and tanks could be seen on the streets, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
As civilians rushed out of the city centre in cars and motorcycles, armed police were seen at several points in the district.
Hours before the shootout, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno and other senior officials.
Deby was in the complex at the time of the attack, according to Koulamallah.
- France's last Sahel bases -
The former French colony hosted France's last military bases in the region known as the Sahel, but at the end of November, Chad ended defence and security agreements with Paris, calling them obsolete.
Around a thousand French military personnel were stationed in the country and are in the process of being withdrawn.
France was previously driven out of three Sahelian countries governed by juntas hostile to Paris -- Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Senegal and Ivory Coast have also asked France to vacate military bases on their territory.
- Like father, like son ?
The gunfire erupted less than two weeks after Chad held a contested general election that the government hailed as a key step towards ending military rule, but that was marked by low turnout and opposition allegations of fraud.
A call by the opposition for voters to boycott the polls left the field open for candidates aligned with the president, who was brought to power by the military in 2021 and then legitimised in a May presidential election that opposition candidates denounced as fraudulent.
Deby took power after the death of his father, who had ruled the country with an iron fist for three decades.
The desert country is an oil producer but ranked fourth from bottom in the United Nations Human Development Index.
To consolidate his grip on power, Deby has reshuffled the army, historically dominated by the Zaghawas and Gorane, his mother's ethnic group.
On the diplomatic front, he has sought new strategic partnerships, including with Russia and Hungary.