Chad’s government says 18 gunmen who attacked the presidential palace in the capital, N’Djamena, have been killed in an operation that also left an army soldier dead.

The Chadian government said the situation was “under control” after what it described as a destabilization attempt after heavy gunfire was heard in the city center.

“The situation is completely under control, this whole destabilization attempt has been eliminated,” government spokesman and Foreign Minister Abdoul Rahman Kalamallah said in a video posted on Facebook.

The spokesman added that an armed group of 24 gunmen were all killed or wounded, noting that the toll among the attackers was “18 dead and 6 wounded,” while among the government forces, one soldier was killed and three were wounded, one of them seriously.

Earlier on Wednesday evening, security sources said gunmen launched an attack inside the presidential palace, but presidential guards managed to control them as heavy gunfire was heard near the presidential palace in the center of N’Djamena.