President of Chad, Idriss Déby has been killed in battle with rebels in the northern part of the country.

The army reported on State TV that the tragedy took place at the weekend.

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

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.

Déby was a Chadian politician and military officer who was President of Chad from 1990 until his death in 2021.

He was also head of the ruling Patriotic Salvation Movement.

Déby was of the Bidyat clan of the Zaghawa ethnic group.

He took power by leading a rebellion against President Hissène Habré in December 1990 and survived various rebellions and coup attempts against his own rule.

Déby won elections in 1996 and 2001, and after term limits were eliminated he won again in 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021.

He added “Itno” to his surname in January 2006. He was a graduate of Muammar Gaddafi’s World Revolutionary Center.

Several international media sources described Déby’s multi-decade rule as authoritarian.