1979 — N'Djamena Erupts

On February 12, 1979, Chad's capital N'Djamena erupted when Prime Minister Hissene Habre's forces turned on President Felix Malloum's government troops. The fighting tore apart a reconciliation deal struck just months earlier between the two men and their factions.

Three days of street fighting left several thousand civilians dead and forced tens of thousands to flee the capital. The state effectively collapsed, opening the door to years more war, and to Habre's seizure of power in 1982. A peace deal that lasted only months gave way to a broken capital and a country without a functioning centre. N'Djamena never had time to bury its dead before the next chapter.