Assault on Chad presidential complex leaves 19 dead

Gunmen attack Chad's presidential complex, leaving 18 attackers and one security personnel dead in N'Djamena.

Gunmen attempted to storm the presidential complex in Chad's capital N'Djamena on Wednesday (January 8, 2025), 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".