President Idriss Deby has died from injuries sustained in fighting at the frontline

The army in Chad says President Idriss Deby has died from injuries sustained in fighting at the frontline.

Chad’s army is currently combating rebel forces who’ve launched an assault on the capital N’Djamena.

President Deby was expected to win a sixth term in office following elections on April the eleventh.

President Idriss Déby of Chad “breathed his last breath defending the sovereign nation on the battlefield”, army spokesman General Azem Bermandoa Agouna said in a statement read out on state television.

His death came shortly after provisional election results which projected he would win a sixth term in office, with 80% of the vote.

The government and parliament have been dissolved. A military council will govern for the next 18 months.

Mr Déby came to power in an armed uprising in 1990.

He had gone to the front line at the weekend to visit troops battling rebels based across the border in Libya.

AFP news wire agency reports that the Chadian army have confirmed that General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, a four-star general who is the son of slain president Idriss Deby Itno, will replace him at the head of a military council