Eighteen attackers were killed in an assault on the presidential palace in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad, according to a palace spokesperson.
The attack, which occurred on Wednesday evening, also claimed a nineteenth life.
Foreign Minister and Government Spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said the attacking group comprised 24 people. “There are eighteen dead and six injured among the attackers. We regret the loss of one life and have three injured, one of whom is seriously wounded,” he said.
The situation is now “completely under control,” the spokesperson said earlier, in a video distributed on Facebook. “All attempts at destabilisation have been eradicated.”
Various security sources reported that the assailants had burst into the palace and opened fire, but were subdued by the presidential guard. No further details about the perpetrators or the motive for the attack were immediately available.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had visited Chad a few hours before the attack.
