N’Djemena – Chad’s President Idriss Déby has died of injuries he suffered on the frontline, the country’s army said on Tuesday.
He sustained the injuries while commanding the Chadian army in fighting against Libya based rebels in north Chad over the weekend, a spokesman announced on state television.
The 68-year-old Déby was projected on Monday to have won the latest presidential election in the country, the provisional results released on Monday showed.
The results showed Déby scored 79.3 percent of the vote in the April 11 election.Déby came to power in a rebellion in 1990.
Addressing the country earlier, President Déby said he would rather die than watch Chad distabilized.
“Do you often see a Head of State at the frontline? Do you believe I go to the frontline because I’m brave and courageous ? I do so because I love my country. I’d rather die than witness instability in Chad,” he said.
VIDEO