The Battle of N'Djamena in 1979 also called First Battle of N'Djamena was fought between government forces loyal to the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Malloum and FAN rebels led by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Habre. After three days of street fighting in N'Djamena,

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

mediated the conflict between the two parties. After three days of negotiations Malloum and Habre agreed to a ceasefire.

Background

Hissène Habré Hissène Habré (Arabic: ''Ḥusaīn Ḥabrī'', Chadian Arabic: ; ; 13 August 1942 – 24 August 2021), also spelled Hissen Habré, was a Chadian politician and convicted war criminal who served as the 5th president of Chad from 1982 unt ...

was previously a commander of

FROLINAT FROLINAT (; ) was an insurgent rebel group active in Chad between 1966 and 1993. Origins The organization was the result of the political union between the leftist Chadian National Union (UNT), led by Ibrahim Abatcha, and the General Union of ...

rebels, before splitting from FROLINAT together with

Goukouni Oueddei Goukouni Oueddei ( '; born 1944) is a Chadian politician who served as President of Chad from 1979 to 1982. A northerner, Goukouni commanded FROLINAT rebels with Libyan support during the first Chadian Civil War against Chad's southern-domin ...

after

Abba Siddick Abba Siddick (December 25, 1924 – December 1, 2017) was a Chadian politician and revolutionary. He entered active politics in the Chadian Progressive Party (PPT), a nationalist and radical African political party founded in 1947 and led by Gabri ...

assumed leadership of FROLINAT. After disagreements with Oueddei, Habré formed his own rebel group called

Armed Forces of the North The Armed Forces of the North (, FAN) was a Chadian rebel army active during the Chadian Civil War. Composed of FROLINAT units that remained loyal to Hissène Habré following his break from Goukouni Oueddei and the CCFAN in 1976. Consisting a ...

. In August 1978, he allied with President

Félix Malloum Félix Malloum Ngakoutou Bey-Ndi ( '; 10 September 1932 – 12 June 2009), better known as Félix Malloum, was a Chadian military officer and politician who served as the second President of Chad from 1975 to 1978. A native of southern Chad, ...

who gave him the posts of

and

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

. In January 1979, Habré and Malloum disagreed over the interpretation of the reconciliation charter which started military hostilities in the city.

Fighting

The battle began on 12 February 1979, when FAN rebels and the

Military of Chad The Chadian National Army (; , ANT) consists of the five Defence and Security Forces listed in Article 185 of the Chadian constitution of 2018, Chadian Constitution that came into effect on 4 May 2018. These are the National Army (including Chadi ...

engaged in open warfare in the city. The Chadian military carried out massacres against the city's Muslim population, during which several thousand civilians were killed. The fighting ended on 15 February, when negotiations mediated by

President of Sudan This article lists the heads of state of Sudan since the country's independence in 1956. History of the office Since independence was proclaimed on 1 January 1956, six individuals (and three multi-member sovereignty councils) have served as ...

Numayri had begun.

Aftermath

rebels used the fighting in N'Djamena and breakdown of central government to launch a new offensive in the

north North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

. Further conflict between Habré and Malloum caused several countries to try to mediate the conflict, which resulted in a new national government being formed in November 1979. In this government, Habré was appointed as a Minister of Defense. However, fighting soon resumed. In December 1980, Habré fled to

in exile during the closing days of the Second Battle of N'Djamena.

References

{{Reflist History of N'Djamena 1979 in Chad Conflicts in 1979

N'Djamena N'Djamena ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Chad, largest city of Chad. It is also a Provinces of Chad, special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements'', similar to the city of Paris. Originally calle ...

N'Djamena (1979)