Capital city deserted after gunfire near presidential palace triggers panic

Schools, businesses and offices were deserted in the Chadian capital, N’djamena, Wednesday after shooting near the presidential palace sent people fleeing. Gunfire heard between 10:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday near the presidential palace prompted people to flee workplaces and pull their children from schools, one Chadian said from home after quitting his office. “The shooting caused panic. Everyone thought it was a coup,” he said. But the government swiftly issued a communique saying there was only a minor incident over “a misunderstanding related to salaries” and that the entire country “is under the control of the government security and armed forces.” The statement, signed by communications minister Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor, said all had returned to calm, “contrary to tendentious and alarmist rumours spreading about the trouble seen this morning in the capital.” Broadcasting the statement on state radio in the early afternoon, the government appealed to citizens to stay calm and return to their normal activities. Wednesday’s events come amid heavy tension in Chad, where on Monday government forces attacked a rebel post in the east and days earlier the government announced it had thwarted a coup plot against President Idriss Deby. Deby is currently in eastern Chad, not far from where government forces attacked rebel positions this week. “The incident of this morning has nothing to do with the national army’s offensive in eastern Chad,” the statement said. The government said members of a national mine clearance commission – whose office is near the presidential compound – had a disagreement over salaries and it degenerated into "an altercation". “Certain malicious groups try, as usual, to use this unfortunate incident with the aim of destabilising by way of disinformation and poisonous propaganda on the airwaves and particularly on certain well-known websites,” the government said. “Whether these doomsayers like it or not,” the Wednesday incident was not linked to clashes between the national army and rebels, it added. Meanwhile the government has said it “totally destroyed” the rebel base in eastern Chad in its Monday offensive, contradicting a leader of the targeted rebel group, who said insurgents successfully repelled loyalist forces, killing some 200 and confiscating vehicles. In a statement issued Tuesday night the government said those able to escape after the foiled coup attempt last week were holed up at the base, near the border with Sudan, “to reorganise and position themselves to attack government forces.” Chad is scheduled to hold presidential elections on 3 May, but the swelling rebel movement has vowed to put him down by means other than the ballot box. Even if Wednesday morning’s incident was inconsequential, citizens’ panicky reaction underscored how edgy Chadians have become in past months. The N’djamena resident said, “The closer we come to the [election] date, the higher the tension.”