Gunmen attempted to storm the presidential complex in Chad’s capital N’Djamena on Wednesday, sparking a battle that left 18 attackers and one security personnel member dead, the government said.
AFP reporters heard gunfire erupt 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 militant group, which Chadian forces are fighting in the western Lake Chad region that borders Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger.
Landlocked Chad faces regular attacks by Boko Haram.
It recently ended a military accord with former colonial power France and has been accused of interfering in the conflict ravaging neighbouring Sudan.
Several security sources said that an armed commando unit opened fire inside the presidency on Wednesday evening around 7:45 pm (1845 GMT), before being overpowered by the presidential guard.
All roads leading to the presidency were blocked and tanks could be seen on the streets, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
As civilians rushed out of the city centre in cars and motorcycles, armed police were seen at several points in the district.
Hours before the fighting broke out, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno and other senior officials.
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