Chad 's army announced on Tuesday that the country's president had died.- A spokesperson said he died of injuries suffered on the front line while fighting rebels.
- The announcement came after he won a sixth term in office.
The president of Chad has died, the country's army announced Tuesday.
Idriss Déby, 68, died of injuries suffered on the front line while fighting against rebels, an army spokesperson said. He was an ally to western countries like the US.
The spokesperson did not say when Déby died.
The army was fighting against rebel forces in the capital city of N'Djamena. Al Jazeera reported that a group called Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) had launched an attack earlier this month.
The army called the group terrorists.
The announcement of Déby's death came shortly after provisional election results showed that he had won a sixth term in office, the BBC reported. He was one of Africa's longest-serving rulers.
Déby "breathed his last breath defending the sovereign nation on the battlefield," the army spokesperson said in a statement broadcast on state TV.
The country's parliament dissolved after the announcement of Déby's death. The army said it would establish a military council to govern until there is another election, Sky News Arabia reported.