Maghreb Edition

Sahel: Prison uprising in Chad, one killedF

Posted On 7 October 2019

Number of times this article was read : 335
N’Djamena, Oct 7, 2019 (AFP) – At least one inmate was killed and another 11 wounded on Monday in a prison uprising in eastern Chad before troops retook control, officials said.  The uprising broke out in Abeche, the capital of Ouaddai province, where President Idriss Deby has declared a state of emergency to curb deadly ethnic clashes in the arid Sahel nation.  Local public prosecutor Hassan Djamouss Hachim told AFP by telephone one inmate was killed in the violence and the army took back control of the prison several hours later.
Provincial prefect Abakar Maina told AFP at least 11 more were wounded, including two seriously in the prison that holds 570 inmates.   “We revolted to protest over conditions inside the prison,” said one inmate reached by telephone by AFP inside the prison. The prisoner and one police source, said inmates had managed to seize
weapons from their guards before the violence erupted.  Deby in August declared a state of emergency in the Sila and Ouaddai regions bordering Sudan, where more than 50 people died that month in fighting between Arab cattle herders and settled farmers.
By AFP

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