Chad's President Deby dies fighting rebels, says army

Chad's President Idriss Deby, 68, died while commanding troops on the front line of a fight northern rebels, an army spokesman said on Tuesday.

The announcement came a day after he was declared the winner of a presidential election for a sixth term.

The military said Deby had been commanding his army at the weekend as it battled against rebels who launched a major incursion into the north of the united states on election day.

Deby, who was in power for four decades, "has just breathed his last defending the sovereign nation on the battlefield" at the weekend, army spokesman General Azem Bermendao Agouna said in a statement read aloud on state television.

The cause of death had not been yet clear.

Deby’s son, General Mahamat Kaka, 37, was named the interim head of state and can lead the National Council of Transition, said Gen Agouna.

The military council now headed by Gen Kaka has recently met to draft a transitional charter, Gen Agouna said as he announced a curfew and border closures plus the dissolution of the civilian government and elected Parliament.

"A call to dialogue and peace is launched to all Chadians in the united states and abroad as a way to continue steadily to build Chad together," he said.

"The National Council of Transition reassures the Chadian people that all measures have already been taken to guarantee peace, security and the republican order."

Deby's campaign said on Monday that he was headed to the front lines to become listed on troops battling "terrorists".

Rebels based over the northern frontier in Libya attacked a border post on election day and advanced a huge selection of kilometres south towards the administrative centre N'Djamena.

Deby was re-elected for a sixth term on Monday with 79 %, making him one of Africa's longest-serving leaders. Several opposition leaders boycotted the vote.

He took the title of "Marshal" last year and said before last week's election: "I understand in advance that I'll win, as I've done going back 30 years."

Over the years, Deby survived numerous armed rebellions and were able to stay static in power until this latest insurgency led by an organization calling itself the Front for Change and Concord in Chad.

Deby was also dealing with mounting public discontent over his management of Chad's oil wealth and crackdowns on opponents.

Western countries have observed Deby as an ally in the fight against extremist groups, including Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin and groups associated with Al Qaeda and ISIS in the Sahel. French President Macron was among the first world leaders to speak from the President's death, saying France would the stand by position the nation of Chad and had, "lost a great soldier" and "brave friend" in Deby.

The US also expressed its condolences over the increased loss of Deby but emphasized their support for, "peaceful transition of power" relative to the Chadian constitution.

Deby, a herder's son from the Zaghawa ethnic group, found power in a rebellion in 1990, when his rebel forces overthrew then-President Hissene Habre, who was later convicted of human rights abuses at a global tribunal in Senegal.