• The two main cities in Chad were the scene of anti-government protesters.
• Security forces opened fire.
• More than 60 individuals were injured.

The two main cities in Chad were the scene of anti-government protesters when security forces opened fire, leaving scores dead.

Aziz Mahamat Saleh, a spokesman for the Chadian administration, reported 30 fatalities in the city of N’Djamena. However, the march’s organizers reported a greater death toll on Thursday: 40.

According to a representative of the mortuary in Moundou, Chad’s second-largest city, 32 more demonstrators were slain there. More than 60 individuals were injured, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the nature of the situation.

In N’Djamena’s main hospital, a large number of patients with gunshot wounds were being treated by overworked medical staff.

Police had earlier used tear gas to disperse the masses, but the protesters kept moving forward and increased in number. Security forces then started firing, leaving demonstrators trying to remove the bodies from the site as they opened fire.

A journalist from Chad named Narcisse Oredje, who worked for CEFOD radio, was one among those killed.

To commemorate the date when the military initially pledged to transfer power—a term that has now been extended for an additional two years—hundreds of people flocked to the streets.

Since longstanding President Idriss Deby was slain on the battlefield in April 2021 while visiting front-line troops, the nation has been wracked by a political crisis.

The military then appointed his 38-year-old son Mahamat Idriss Deby as acting president. Although he had initially committed to abstaining from the elections that would follow an 18-month period of civilian government, Deby’s nationwide forum reset the clock as the deadline drew near.

It authorized a new “maximum” 24-month window for conducting elections on October 1. Additionally, it stated Deby may run in the poll and referred to him as the “transitional president.” On October 10, Deby took office and subsequently created a “government of national union” led by Prime Minister Saleh Kebzabo.

While many people yearned for a return to civilian government, political analyst Ovigwe Eguegu told Al Jazeera that they were afraid the military would hold onto power.

There are legitimate worries that the military would continue to dominate and violate human rights, according to Eguegu.

Additionally, Kebzabo’s UNDR party’s headquarters came under attack and “half burned down” by protesters, according to UNDR Vice President Celestin Topona.

Additionally, there were reports of barricades being erected in a number of neighborhoods and tires being set ablaze in major thoroughfares to obstruct traffic.

Security forces have violently suppressed multiple civil societies and opposition-led demonstrations against the military coup and France’s support for the interim administration, sometimes murdering protesters in the process.

Police deployed water cannons and tear gas to quell anti-French riots in May that resulted in the destruction of businesses with ties to France.

The violence on Friday, which “particularly [included] the use of fatal weapons against demonstrators,” was criticized by France, which once colonized Chad.

According to the foreign ministry, “France is not participating in these activities, which firmly fall under Chad’s domestic political sphere.” “False information regarding France’s alleged role is without merit.”

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