Chad rebels vow to take capital after president killed

Idriss Deby Itno. (Ludovic Marin/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Chad’s president of three decades has died of wounds suffered during a visit to frontline troops battling a shadowy rebel group, the military has announced, hours after he was declared the winner of an election that would have given him another six years in power.

While the military quickly named President Idriss Deby Itno’s son as the country’s interim leader, the rebel group claiming responsibility for his death vowed to continue its fight for the capital — setting the stage for a potentially bloody battle for political control of the oil-producing central African nation.