N'DJAMENA, Chad (AP) — Chadian security forces have opened fire on anti-government demonstrators, killing at least 30 people protesting in the central African nation's capital against interim leader Mahamat Idriss Deby's two-year extension of power.

Authorities put a curfew in effect after Thursday's violence, which Chadian government spokesman Aziz Mahamat Saleh said left 30 dead. Organizers of the march in N'Djamena, though, placed it higher, at 40, with many wounded by bullets as well. There was no independent corroboration of the figures given by the two sides

Thursday's march marks the deadliest anti-government protest since Deby took over last year in the wake of his father's assassination after decades in power. The late President Idriss Deby Itno was killed by rebels while visiting Chadian troops on the battlefield in the country’s north in April 2021.

Thursday marked the original 18-month deadline for organizing new elections. However, authorities in Chad recently announced that Mahamat Idriss Deby will remain interim leader for another two years.