Troops in an army barracks in Chad’s capital, Ndjamena, mutinied overnight, but their insurrection was swiftly quelled without violence, a source close to the president’s office said on Monday.
”There was a mutiny by one of the Ndjamena garrisons,” the source said, asking not to be named and explaining that the rebellious soldiers had headed for an eastern road out of the capital taken by President Idriss Deby to reach his home outside Ndjamena.
”Those mainly responsible for this insurrection have been arrested and others surrendered,” a close adviser to the head of state in the Central African country said.
The mutiny ended ”without a single shot”, the first source said.
Armoured cars were deployed on Monday morning in different parts of the city, following troop movements seen on Sunday.
An army officer, who also asked not to be named, said the mutiny had been triggered by measures Deby took after paying surprise visits to barracks in February, when he ”discovered that the army included non-existent troops whose pay was being pocketed by officers”.
”There were also soldiers passing themselves off with higher ranks than they had, who were downgraded to their rightful status.”
In the wake of his visits, Deby froze military pay and bonuses for two months and also had several military officers arrested, particularly among those in charge of pay for different wings of the Chadian National Army.
All soldiers were ordered back to their units and spot-counts of their numbers took place. As a result of this census, the authorities found that the army’s strength was about 19 000 men, instead of the 24 000 put forward in previous tallies.
Despite the recent discovery and exploitation of oil reserves, the largely arid Chad remains one of the poorest countries in Africa. — Sapa-AFP