Doubts emerge over deadly incident at Chad’s presidential palace

The Chadian government reported that 19 people were killed, including a presidential guard, in an attack on the presidential palace late Wednesday. However, conflicting accounts have raised suspicions about the nature of the incident, with some testimonies suggesting it may have been a tragic blunder rather than an orchestrated assault.

Government spokesperson Abderaman Koulamallah, in a televised statement, said the attackers arrived in one or two vehicles and were likely under the influence of drugs and alcohol. “We found that they had a lot of alcohol, small bottles of water filled with alcohol. It looks like whiskey or something like that. Also, some drugs—they were completely drugged, at least the survivors,” Koulamallah said.

According to official accounts, the attackers were unarmed and did not carry “weapons of war.” Koulamallah reported that 18 of the suspected attackers were killed, six others survived, and two presidential guards were gravely injured.

The victims’ bodies were transported to the morgue, but witnesses and local sources have disputed the government’s version of events, suggesting that the deceased may not have posed any real threat. Some have described the incident as a case of excessive use of force, though these claims remain unverified.

The attack comes amidst political tension in Chad, just days after parliamentary elections criticized by opposition groups as a tool to consolidate the power of President Mahamat Deby Itno.

Deby Itno assumed power in 2021 after the death of his father, Idriss Deby, who ruled Chad for over three decades. The younger Deby later won a presidential election last year, which international observers deemed not credible.