Chad's state prosecutor has said that Yaya Dillo, leader of an opposition left-wing party, was killed during a gunfight with security forces, after an attack at the country's internal security agency.

Chad's state prosecutor Oumar Mahamat Kedelaye on Thursday said that Yaya Dillo, the leader of the opposition Socialist Party Without Borders (PSF), had been killed on Wednesday during an exchange of fire with security forces.

Heavy gunfire was audible on Wednesday around the area of the PSF headquarters.

This followed an attack overnight on Tuesday on the country's internal security agency building in which several people were killed.

Chadian authorities blamed Dillo and the PSF, although Dillo had told the AFP news agency on Wednesday that he was not present at the attack. He claimed the government was trying to intimidate him so that he would not run in elections scheduled for May 6 this year.

The government on Wednesday also accused a PSF member of an "assassination attempt against the president of the supreme court," an allegation Dillo described as "staged."

The internet connectivity tracking service NetBlocks on Wednesday reported severe disruptions to internet connectivity in the country that it said persisted throughout much of the day.

Reuters news agency cited a witness as reporting a return to relative calm in the capital N'Djamena on Thursday, with a smaller visible military presence but with internet access still not restored.

Who is Yaya Dillo?

Yaya Dillo Djerou, 49, is a cousin of transitional President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno. The interim leader took control in Chad in 2021 when his father Idriss Deby Itno was said to have been killed on the front lines fighting an insurgency in the north of the country.

Elections in May would bring an end to roughly three years of effective military rule. Mahamat Deby Itno had originally promised elections and a return to civilian rule within 18 months but later extended the transition period by another two years.

Dillo went from being an armed rebel leader to a Cabinet minister under former President Deby, his uncle, and then an opposition candidate against him.

In 2021, he told France's RFI radio station that he had been attacked by members of the presidential guard, headed by now interim President Mahamat Deby Itno, who he said killed several of his family members including his wife.

Government forces at the time said they had opened fire after encountering armed resistance.

This is a developing story. More to follow...

msh/wd (AFP, Reuters)