Chad, 1991 — military coup attempt

Event Summary

The dataset records an event coded as an attempted military coupi in Chad on 13 October 1991 against President Idriss Deby, who had himself seized power less than a year earlier, in December 1990, by overthrowing the dictator Hissene Habre. Deby's new regime was fragile and immediately beset by armed challenges from rival factions, former Habre loyalists, and disaffected commanders in a country long torn by civil war, ethnic rivalry, and foreign meddling by Libya and Sudan. In October 1991 an attempt to overthrow Deby was mounted, reportedly by elements linked to the ousted Habre camp or to rival groups within the fractured military, and it was suppressed.

This was one of a rapid series of coup and rebellion attempts against Deby in the early years of his rule, which he weathered while gradually consolidating control and steering Chad through a troubled transition that included a national conference and, eventually, contested multiparty elections. Deby survived these and many later plots, ruling Chad for three decades until he was killed on the battlefield fighting rebels in April 2021.