Chadian opposition politician Yaya Dillo was killed on Wednesday during an exchange of gunfire with security forces, prosecutor Oumar Mahamat Kedelaye said.
Heavy gunfire had been heard on Wednesday in the capital N'Djamena near the headquarters of his opposition party, a Reuters witness said, after several people were killed in earlier clashes near the country's internal security agency building.
The authorities blamed the clashes on activists from the opposition Socialist Party Without Borders (PSF), headed by Dillo
Dillo was a fierce opponent of Chad's transitional president, his cousin Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno.
Presidential election
Chad is scheduled to hold a presidential election on May 6, which both Deby and Dillo intended to contest.
Dillo was accused of having led the attack against the offices of the internal security agency overnight on Tuesday to Wednesday.
It came after the arrest of a PSF member accused of an "assassination attempt against the president of the supreme court".
Denied involvement
Speaking to AFP on Wednesday, Dillo denied any involvement in the incident, denouncing the claim as a "lie" and politically motivated.
"I wasn't present," he said.
Dillo also condemned an attempted attack against the supreme court president as "staged".
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