The president of Chad has suffered a violent death on the frontline of a battle against a rebel group, according to BBC News. Idriss Déby first came to power in an armed uprising in 1990, making him one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders. But his three decades in power came to an abrupt end when, according to the country’s military leaders, the president died in clashes with rebels in the north of the country over the weekend. An army general said in a televised statement that the president “breathed his last defending the sovereign nation on the battlefield.” According to the Associated Press, the announcement of Déby’s battlefield death came hours after electoral officials declared him the winner of the April 11 presidential election, which should have seen him serve for six more years. A military council will govern in his place, the BBC reports.