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At least 19 people have been killed after gunmen launched an attack on Chad’s presidential complex on Wednesday.
Gunfire was headed near the presidential building with tanks seen on the street.
An armed commando unit reportedly shot inside the building around 7:45pm.
Abderaman Koulamallah, government spokesman and foreign minister, said the dead include 18 of the assailants and one security agent.
“There were 18 dead and six injured among the 24-strong commando unit that launched the assault, and we suffered one death and three injured, one of them seriously,” he said.
Koulamallah was seen surrounded by soldiers and with a gun on his belt said “the situation is completely under control. The destabilisation attempt was put down”.
He said the attackers were suspected Boko Haram members but later said they were “probably not” terrorists.
He described them as drunken “Pieds Nickeles” — a reference to a French comic featuring hapless criminals.
Koulamallah said the armed assailants confronted four guards before entering the presidential complex, where they were “easily overpowered”, adding that the surviving attackers were “completely drugged”.
Chad is under military rule and faces regular attacks by Boko Haram, especially in the western Lake Chad region.
The country recently ended a military agreement with former colonial power France.
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Hours before the shootout, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno and other senior officials.
