A French military nurse shot and killed on Tuesday a Chadian soldier he was treating and who attacked him with a scalpel in a French forces base in Faya-Largeau, in northern Chad.
Media reports including reports by Alwihda Info, Liberation, Le Figaro and AFP said:
“A Chadian soldier, who was not in a normal state, went for dressing in the military base of the French army, took a scalpel and injured a French military nurse,” explained to the AFP by telephone General Ali Maïde Kebir, governor of the Borkou region of which Faya-Largeau is the capital. “The nurse used his firearm and kiled him,” he added.
Demonstrations
“After learning of the death of the Chadian soldier, the population of Faya demonstrated all day in front of the entrance to the base, tried to enter but without success and the crowd dispersed at nightfall,” added the governor, who speaks of the attack on the nurse as an “isolated act.”
“During a medical consultation for the population, a Chadian soldier who was consulting attacked a French nurse with a scalpel, who had to use his weapon,” confirmed, on condition of anonymity, a French Forces official in Sahel based in N’Djamena, but which has a base in Faya-Largeau housing 40 soldiers.
“We do not know the reasons for the attack. The nurse received three scalpel blows to the chest, head and neck, but his condition is stabilized,” continued this source, assuring that the nurse “had to defend himself.”
A joint investigation by the Chadian and French armies is underway to determine the circumstances of the “incident,” concluded General Maïde Kebir.
This French garrison has been present in Faya-Largeau for 40 years, said the French military source.
Another media report said:
Demonstrators tried to make their way into a French military base in the north-central African country of Chad, local media outlets reported on Wednesday. The Chadian troops guarding the facility have fired shots in order to dispense the crowd.
A French diplomatic source told that the doctor was in serious condition after being stabbed three times and had difficulty answering when questioned by the authorities. The Chadian soldier died instantly after being shot, he said.
The unnamed diplomat also claimed that locals tried to storm the French base at least twice after news of the incident spread, but had failed to breach the facility.
Chadian political analyst Evariste Ngarlem Tolde confirmed that there were heated protests in the city of Faya-Largeau, noting that Chadian troops guarding the French base used live rounds to disperse the angry crowd. He did not, however, have any information about possible deaths or injuries.
MPs Of Chad
The analyst also said that the members of Chad’s National Assembly, who arrived at the site, demanded some 1,000 French troops be withdrawn from the country. The MPs stated “they could not understand how the French military could kill a Chadian on Chadian territory,” according to Tolde.
Tensions in Faya-Largeau remain high and there are concerns that the protests against the French military presence could spread to other regions of the country, he warned.
