Reports indicate that militants attacked the Chadian presidential palace.
Sources told RT that tanks have been deployed in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad, following reports of an attack on the presidential palace by unidentified militants. Heavy gunfire was heard in the city center.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited N’Djamena on Wednesday to discuss enhancing bilateral cooperation with Chadian President Mahamat Deby.
AFP, citing a Chadian security source, was first to report heavy gunfire in the capital on Wednesday evening. The source stated that armed men attacked the presidential palace.
All roads leading to the presidential palace have been closed, with armored vehicles blocking streets.
“Nothing serious, don’t panic, the situation is under control,” Chadian government spokesman Aziz Mahamat Saleh posted on Facebook Wednesday evening, offering no further details.
After following Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, Chad terminated its security pact with France in November. France had approximately 1,000 troops in the Sahel nation; the initial 30 departed in late December, with the remainder expected to leave in the coming weeks.
French President Emmanuel Macron told ambassadors on Tuesday that former African colonies failed to express gratitude for France’s counter-terrorism efforts over the past decade.
“None of them would have a sovereign state if the French army had not deployed in this region,” Macron asserted. “I think that they forgot to thank us, but that’s ok, it will come in time.”
France was a key supporter of the 2011 NATO intervention in Libya, which ousted Muammar Gaddafi. Since then, Libya has been embroiled in sectarian conflict among rival warlords, with much of its weaponry ending up in the hands of various militant groups across the Sahel, some allied with Al-Qaeda. France deployed forces in its former colonies to combat these terrorists, but local governments later accused Paris of failing and instead sought security partnerships with Russia and China.