Also, 18 of them were said to be members of the 24-strong commando unit that launched the assault.
No fewer than 19 persons have been reportedly killed while three others wounded, during an attack on Chad's presidential palace on Wednesday night.
Also, 18 of them were said to be members of the 24-strong commando unit that launched the assault.
“There were 18 dead and six injured” among the attackers “and we suffered one death and three injured, one of them seriously”, government spokesman and Foreign Minister, Abderaman Koulamallah, told AFP.
The state media that reported the incident on Thursday stated that six were in the custody.
According to the report, the attack on Wednesday night occurred while Chadian President, Mahamat Deby Itno, was inside the palace, but authorities said the situation was quickly brought under control.
“The situation is completely under control. There is no fear,” Foreign Affairs Minister, Abderaman Koulamallah, said while surrounded by soldiers in a live Facebook broadcast filmed inside what appeared to be a quiet presidential palace late Wednesday.
Hours after the shooting, Koulamallah appeared in a video posted to Facebook, surrounded by soldiers and with a gun on his belt, saying “The situation is completely under control. The destabilisation attempt was put down."
A security source said the attackers were members of the Boko Haram jihadist group, but Koulamallah later said they were “probably not” terrorists, describing them as drunken “Pieds Nickeles” — a reference to a French comic featuring hapless crooks.
He said they attacked four guards before entering the presidential complex, where they were “easily overpowered”, adding the surviving assailants were “completely drugged”.
The attack coincided with a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who congratulated Deby Itno on reestablishing constitutional order.
The attack occurred about a week after the African nation held parliamentary elections that were supposed to help restore democracy, but the main opposition party boycotted the polls. Results have not yet been announced, and analysts have said they expect the election to help Deby Itno consolidate his grip on power.
Deby Itno seized power as a military ruler after his father, who spent three decades leading the country, was killed fighting rebels in 2021.
Deby Itno won a presidential election last year that international observers have said was not credible.