2006 Chadian coup attempt
{{Short description|2006 coup attempt in Chad}}
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{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = 2006 Chadian coup d'etat attempt
| image = File:Chad-CIA WFB Map.png|thumb|Map of Chad.
| date = March 14, 2006
| place = Chad
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The 2006 Chadian coup attempt was an attempted coup d'état against Chadian President Idriss Déby that was foiled on the night of March 14, 2006.
Plot
The coup plot was led by brothers Tom and Timane Erdimi, two high-ranking Chadian military officers, who previously tried overthrowing former General Seby Aguid and Déby in 2004.
Déby’s plane was departing the CEMAC summit with other Central African leaders in Bata, Equatorial Guinea for N'Djamena, Chad.
According to Hourmadji Moussa Doumngor, minister of communications and culture, the rebel soldiers fled in seven vehicles after soldiers loyal to the president foiled the attempt. Two vehicles were stopped and "their occupants neutralized". The remaining vehicles were pursued by Chadian forces eastern part of the country. There were reports that between March 14 and 15 N'Djamena’s two mobile phone networks shut down. This was likely done by the government as part of the security operation.{{cite news|publisher=Chicago Tribune|title=Troops reportedly stop coup attempt|date=16 March 2006|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2006/03/16/troops-reportedly-stop-coup-attempt/}}
Doumngor said the Erdimi brothers were captured, while stating other plotters were former military or civilian government officials living in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Sudan, and the United States.Dany Danzoumbe, [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=86&art_id=qw1142433001656B232 "Coup attempt foiled in Chad - officials"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615021453/http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1 |date=2006-06-15 }}, Reuters (IOL), March 16, 2006.
Security Minister Routouang Yoma Golom told reporters, "There are around 100 members of the military implicated in this coup who have been arrested. They will be brought to trial. ... The situation is totally under control and calm has returned. The head of state has personally gone several times to military camps to restore order."Betel Miarom, [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=86&art_id=qw1142887682556B232 "Chad detains dozens after coup attempt"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615021453/http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1 |date=2006-06-15 }}, Reuters (IOL), March 21, 2006. Golom also said a military court would sentence them in the next one to two months.
Chadian rebels said that they would block the May 3 election. Doumgor responded in saying the elections will not be postponed.{{cite news|publisher=Reuters|title=Chad rebels say will try to block May elections|date=16 March 2006|url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16153357.htm |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060317220248/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16153357.htm |archive-date = 17 March 2006}}
Reaction
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said the French were following the situation with the greatest vigilance, given that Chad is going through a difficult situation because of the Darfur crisis.{{Cite web |date=2008-04-22 |title=Nasty Neighbors: Resolving the Chad-Sudan Proxy War |url=https://www.americanprogress.org/article/nasty-neighbors-resolving-the-chad-sudan-proxy-war/ |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=Center for American Progress |language=en}}
Yaya Dillo Djérou, member of Platform for Change, Unity and Democracy, a subgroup of the UFDC, said the UFDC had tried to "smoke out the president from N'Djamena, but our plan was declared by some secret agents and then our people had to cancel the plan and get out of the town." Djérou was speaking in eastern Chad.
Suliman Baldo, Africa program director of the International Crisis Group think tank, said that "the calendar is really driving events ... the armed groups bent on toppling him don't want him to get to the elections."
The African Union issued a statement: "The President of the Commission of the African Union (AU) has strongly condemned the attempted coup d'état that has taken place in N'Djamena, Chad, in the night between March 14 and March 15, 2006. Conformly to the Algiers Decision of July 1999 and the Lomé Declaration of July 2000 on changes of government by unconstitutional means, the President of the Commission has reiterated the AU's opposition to all taking power by violent means. The President of the Commission has launched an appeal to Chadian politicians so that they use dialogue to sort out their differences and promote the democratic process in their country."{{Cite web |title=Rights group criticises Chad crackdown |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/4/20/rights-group-criticises-chad-crackdown |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}
Chad accused Sudan of instigating the coup attempt.{{Cite web |date=2006-04-14 |title=Chad accuses Sudan of instigating coup attempt |url=https://sudantribune.com/article15587/ |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=Sudan Tribune |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2008-03-14 |title=Security Summary: Chad / Jan-Mar 2008 - Central African Republic |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/central-african-republic/security-summary-chad-jan-mar-2008 |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=ReliefWeb |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2008-02-04 |title=If Chad coup succeeds, Darfur crisis could deepen - Chad |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/chad/if-chad-coup-succeeds-darfur-crisis-could-deepen |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=ReliefWeb |language=en}}
Reassurances by Déby
On March 18, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi phoned President Déby, who reassured Gaddafi that "The situation in Chad is under control."{{cite news|publisher=AngolaPress |title=Idriss Deby tells Kadhafi calm returns to Chad |date=18 March 2006 |url=http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=425670 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929120317/http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=425670 |archive-date=29 September 2007 }}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Chadian coups}}
{{Years in Chad}}
{{African coups d'état}}
{{Coup d'état}}
{{Civil war in Chad (2005–2010)}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:2006 Chadian Coup D'etat Attempt}}
Category:Political history of Chad
Category:Attempted coups d'état in Chad