APA-Ndjamena (Chad) The operation that led to the hostage’s release was overseen by the Chadian Minister of Public Security, Mahamat Charfadine Margui.
This news marks the end of five days of a hostage situation in Chad.
Dr Luesca Alexandra, a Polish doctor on placement at Donomanga district hospital in Tandjile Province, is now free.
On 8 February, while she was in the middle of a consultation, Dr. Luesca Alexandra was kidnapped by an armed commando along with her colleague, Dr. Carlos, a Mexican.
The initial intervention by members of the Donomanga Brigade freed Dr. Carlos a few hours after the kidnapping. However, the kidnappers managed to escape with the Polish woman.
“When we stopped in one place, they asked us for our identities and told us they weren’t going to kill us, but they just wanted money,” Dr. Carlos reported after his release by the police.
The final assault
The kidnapping of Dr. Alexandra and Dr. Carlos is news that has caused concern at the highest levels of government. On 11 February, the Minister of Public Security, Mahamat Chafardine Margui, and his
lieutenants set up their headquarters in the area where the kidnapping took place.
The defence and security forces of Tandjile, Moyen-Chari and Mandoul areas, were mobilised to rescue her.
On the evening of Tuesday 13 February, a press release from the Ministry of Public Security announced that the kidnappers had been neutralised and that the hostage had been released by the security forces.
In a statement to the press, the Minister of Public Security, Mahamat Charfadine Margui, explained the details of the operation. According to him, after gathering intelligence and analysing the situation, everything suggested that the leader of this gang was a dissident from the ex-elements belonging to Djibril, a rebel leader whose stronghold is in the Korbol Mountains in the south of the country.
To prevent the kidnappers from reaching these mountains or any other place in the vicinity, a team led by the Moyen-Chari military commander was stationed in the Dam sub-prefecture to monitor the Guidari area, where the kidnappers were spotted at around 4pm on Monday.
Another team led by the commander of the military zone set up an ambush to prevent them from crossing and ending up in the Manda Park.
“One thing led to another and the latest information received on Monday 12 February enabled us to put in place an intervention plan in a forest around forty kilometres from Goundi, on the Donomanga road. As the area is a dense forest, the teams left at around 3 am on Tuesday 13 February to cover six kilometres by motorbike and then continue on foot,” Minister Mahamat Charfadine Margui explains.
The assault succeeded in neutralising the kidnappers and freeing Dr Luescas Alexandra. The two freed hostages were transferred to Ndjamena on the evening of Tuesday 13th.
The kidnapping of these two expatriates is reminiscent of that of a Franco-Australian working as a veterinarian in the Zakouma national park in October 2022. Thanks to the prompt action of the defence and security forces, he was released a few hours after his kidnapping.
The Minister of Security praised the bravery of the men in uniform and their sense of patriotism in preserving the honour of Chad.
CA/ac/fss/as/APA