Coup Atlas Research Database
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48303152006ConspiracyMilitary coup

Chad, 2006 — military coup conspiracy

Chad (TCD)Central Africa, AfricaMarch 15, 2006

Event Summary

This entry is coded 15 March 2006, corresponding to the 2006 Chadian coup attempt against President Idriss Deby, foiled on the night of 14 to 15 March 2006. The plot was led by the twin brothers Tom and Timane Erdimi, Deby's nephews and former chiefs of his civilian personal staff who had joined the exiled opposition in December 2005, together with renegade former General Seby Aguid. The plan was to shoot down Deby's plane as it returned from a Central African economic summit in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, to N'Djamena.

Forces loyal to Deby, having been tipped off, foiled the attempt; the rebel soldiers fled in seven vehicles, two of which were intercepted, and around one hundred military personnel were arrested. The episode came amid a broader rebel insurgency along the eastern border with Sudan's Darfur region, marked by waves of army desertions since October 2005, and just weeks before a disputed 3 May 2006 election that Deby contested after scrapping term limits. The 15 March 2006 coding matches the foiling of this plot.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Deby foiled the plot, arrested about 100 soldiers, and won the May 2006 election
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
President Idriss Deby (target)
Tom and Timane Erdimi (Deby's nephews, plot leaders)
renegade former General Seby Aguid

Sources

The 2006 Chadian coup attempt was foiled on the night of 14 March 2006, led by brothers Tom and Timane Erdimi, two high-ranking Chadian military officers who had previously tried to overthrow Deby in 2004, as his plane departed a CEMAC summit in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, for N'Djamena.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: 2006 Chadian coup attempt open source ↗
A 15 March government statement named seven military officers who allegedly aimed to shoot down Deby's plane as he returned from the summit, and security forces stepped in to stop them after being informed of their intentions.
SOURCE REVIEWED ReliefWeb (IRIN): Chad, Coup attempt foiled, government says open source ↗
Security Minister Routouang Yoma Golom said around 100 members of the military implicated in the coup had been arrested and would be brought to trial.
SOURCE REVIEWED Military Wiki: 2006 Chadian coup attempt open source ↗
The coup attempt came a month and a half ahead of a scheduled presidential election, amid an eastern rebel movement vowing to oust Deby and waves of soldiers deserting since October 2005 to join rebels near Sudan's Darfur region.
SOURCE REVIEWED ReliefWeb (IRIN): Chad, Coup attempt foiled, government says open source ↗

Editorial Note

Coded 15 Mar 2006 matches the foiling of the 14-15 March 2006 Erdimi/Aguid plot to shoot down Deby's plane. Verified, near-exact date. First Chad record in the run.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
48303152006

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Deby foiled the plot, arrested about 100 soldiers, and won the May 2006 election.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation

Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

CSP

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

Financial Times

“Chad tense as soldiers’ coup attempt is thwarted: [EUROPE 1 ST EDITION],” March 16, 2006

The Independent

“World News IN BRIEF: Chad says army coup was foiled: [First Edition],” March 16, 2006

The Daily Mirror

“AROUND THE WORLD: Coup foiled: [EIRE Edition],” March 16, 2006

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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