Chad interim leader vows talks after deadly anti-junta protests

Chad's new junta leader pledged national dialogue as at least two people died on Tuesday during banned protests against his government, which took power after the shock battlefield death of his father and veteran ruler Idriss Deby Itno.

Deby's 37-year-old son Mahamat, who heads the so-called Transitional Military Council (TMC) pledged an "inclusive national dialogue" after violent protests in the capital N'Djamena and in the south of the semi-desert country.

The government said at least two people had died in the protests but a local NGO reported nine fatalities -- seven in the capital and two in the south.

Police were deployed in N'Djamena to break up the planned demonstrations called by the opposition and civil society groups.

They used tear gas in the capital to disperse small groups of demonstrators, some of whom burned tyres, AFP journalists saw.

A woman died when anti-junta protesters attacked a bus in N'Djamena's Dembe district, a prosecutor told AFP.

"Some passengers fled but a woman remained and was killed by the protesters," N'Djamena prosecutor Youssouf Tom told AFP.

'Fed up'

Separately, a man died in protests in the southern city of Mondou, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of the capital.

"We do not yet have the exact circumstances of the death, he is a young man of 21," Mondou prosecutor Ali Kolla Brahim told AFP.

Map of Chad. By Patricio ARANA (AFP)

But a high-ranking state media official, Ahmat Malloum, told AFP by telephone from Moundou that police fired live ammunition on a student who had thrown a stone at a police car.

"The student died instantly," Malloum said.

The Chadian Convention for the Defence of Human Rights (CTDDH) however said that in addition to the nine deaths, 36 people were wounded and about 12 arrested.

"We denounce and condemn this massacre ... (and) the disproportionate use of weapons of war against protesters," it said.

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned "with the greatest firmness the repression of demonstrations and the violence that took place this morning in N'Djamena."

France has been a key ally in Chad's battle against a jihadist revolt that has swept across the Sahel, though Macron has said he intends to eventually reduce the 5,100-strong Barkhane force Paris has deployed in the region for nearly a decade.

Mahamat Deby on Tuesday also pledged to "fight terrorism and respect all its international obligations."

"We are fed up, fed up, fed up with the monarchical dynasty in Chad," one protester, Sarah, told AFP, referring to the Deby family rule.

Behind her, a crowd ran in the streets shouting "police, police", as security forces approached in a vehicle.

'The Chadians have risen'

"The military has unveiled its colour: govern in blood. The security forces fired live bullets on youths to break up a peaceful march," tweeted Saleh Kebzabo, a veteran opposition figure.

Mahamat Idriss Deby heads the military council. By Christophe PETIT TESSON (POOL/AFP/File)

"The Chadians have risen, we will no longer back down," added Succes Masra, another prominent anti-regime figure.

Deby died this month after he was injured on the frontlines in the country's north, where the army has been fighting Libya-based rebels.

Also on Tuesday, 12 Chadian soldiers were killed when they were attacked in the northern Lake Chad region used as a rear base by jihadist groups including Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a regional governor said.

Mahamat Fadoul Mackaye said 40 Islamist fighters were also killed in the fighting.

On Monday, the military junta appointed Albert Pahimi Padacke as transitional prime minister, who called for a nationwide effort to speed the return to civilian rule.

The elder Deby came to power in 1990 at the head of a rebel force that rolled in from neighbouring Sudan.

He was buried last Friday in a state funeral attended by Macron.