Key dates in the life of Chad's president Idriss Deby Itno, who died on Tuesday at the age of 68 from what the army said were wounds sustained in battle against rebels.

- 1952: Born Idriss Deby in Berdoba, in the northeast, to a herder. A Muslim, he hails from the Zaghawa ethnic group.

- 1976: After enrolling at the officers' academy in the capital N'Djamena in the early 1970s, he heads to France, where he trains as a pilot. Returns in 1979.

- 1982: Becomes army chief after Hissene Habre comes to power.

- 1989: Accused by Habre of plotting a coup, he flees to Sudan, where he assembles an armed rebel group, the Patriotic Salvation Movement.

- 1990: Seizes power when his troops roll into N'Djamena.

- 1996: After six years of democratic transition, Deby is elected head of state in Chad's first multi-party vote.

- 2001: Deby is re-elected amid mounting criticism from the opposition over alleged electoral fraud and rights violations.

- 2005: Army mutineers gather in the east of the country, where they form several armed groups.

- 2008: Rebels storm the capital, reaching the gates of the presidential palace before being repelled with help from French troops.

- 2013: Deby sends troops to support French intervention in northern Mali to oust jihadists.

- 2015: He launches a regional offensive in Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger against Boko Haram jihadists.

- 2016: Deby is re-elected for a fifth term amid opposition cries of electoral fraud.

- 2019: He escapes with the help of French bombardment an attempt to overthrow him led by rebels who have come in from Libya.

- 2020: Deby is named field marshal, the first in Chad's history, after he leads an offensive against Boko Haram.

- 2021: Re-elected to a sixth term after elections on April 11.

- April 20, 2021: The army says he dies from wounds sustained when commanding his forces as they fought rebels who had launched a major incursion into the north of the country on election day.

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