UNHCR Mission Says Staying Put In Chad Following President's Death

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) mission will remain in Chad, following the death of the African nation's recently re-elected President Idriss Deby in clashes with rebels, Allassem Guidenyade, a UNHCR local security officer, told Sputnik on Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th April, 2021) The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) mission will remain in Chad, following the death of the African nation's recently re-elected President Idriss Deby in clashes with rebels, Allassem Guidenyade, a UNHCR local security officer, told Sputnik on Tuesday.

Deby died while leading an army unit in hostilities with the rebels in the country's north earlier in the day. The late leader, who ruled the state since 1990 and gathered nearly 80% of votes in the April 11 elections, was to assume office for the sixth time in a row.

"No decision has so far come from the DO [designated official] to leave the [UNHCR] premises [in Chad] so we stay," Guidenyade said.

In the meantime, Chad declared a two-week national mourning period after Deby's death, imposed a curfew from 6:00 p.m. local time (17:00 GMT) until 05:00 a.m., and closed land and air borders "until further notice."

The country's military also set up a transitional council led by Mahamat Deby, the late president's son, which is due to dissolve the cabinet and the parliament, and set to govern the African state for 18 months. Upon the end of the transitional period, the military pledged to hold "democratic and transparent elections."