Chad President Idriss Deby died Tuesday, Chad’s military announced, after he was fatally wounded in battle during a confrontation with rebel forces.
The 68-year-old military commander who has served as president since December 1990 won a sixth term in office on Monday, winning 79.3% of the vote.
But just hours after his reelection was announced, Deby was killed in combat while leading army units against rebel forces in northern Chad.
According to army spokesperson General Azem Bemrandoua Agouna, Deby’s forces had been pushed back by a rebel attack, with the insurgents closing in on the capital city of N’Djamena.
According to a report by The Africa Report, the rebels responsible for Deby’s death were from the Front pour l’Alternance et la Concorde au Tchad (FACT) (Front for Change and Concord in Chad).
Deby had planned to give a victory speech Tuesday, but the movement of rebel forces from the north towards the capital city led him to push off the speech.