Chad President Idriss Deby Itno has been killed on the battlefield after ruling the West African country for the last 30 years, the army announced Tuesday on state television.

The announcement was made only hours after Chad’s poll body declared 68-year-old Deby winner of the April 11 presidential election, that was to extend his rule for 6 more years.

Army spokesman General Azem Bermandoa Agouna said, in a statement read out on the state tv, that Deby “has just breathed his last defending the sovereign nation on the battlefield” over the weekend.

Idriss Deby Itno. PHOTO/COURTESY 

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The army also announced that a military council would replace the deceased Head of State and it will be led by his 37-year-old son Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, a four-star general.

The late President’s campaign had on Monday announced that he had been headed for the frontlines to join his country’s troops to battle rebel forces he termed as "terrorists".

Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno. PHOTO/COURTESY

The army did not, however, how exactly President Deby died in the fierce fight with rebels from the northern frontier in Libya who opposed his 3-decade strong grip on power.

Deby ascended to power in a rebellion in 1990 and was one of Africa's longest-serving leaders and was a major ally to the West in the fight against rebels in Sahel region.