Security forces in Chad have foiled Wednesday an alleged coup attempt on President Idriss Deby that had been planned for several months.

Security forces in Chad have foiled Wednesday an alleged coup attempt on President Idriss Deby that had been planned for several months, according to the country’s communications minister.

He revealed in a televised statement that "Today, May 1, a group of individuals with bad intentions sought to carry out an action to destabilize the institutions of the republic…”

“They did not count on the valiant security forces who have tracked them since December 2012 and who, this morning, neutralized them," he added.

The reported planners of the attack have since been apprehended and transferred to the state prosecutor. Their identities are not being revealed at this time.

The West-African nation and former French colony has been a hotbed of coups and rebellions since gaining independence.

President Deby himself had led troops into the capital N’Djamena in 1990, seizing power. He has been known to be a key ally of the West in the fight to eradicate al Qaeda-linked extremism in the vast region of the Sahel, and has won four elections since leading a rebellion.

The president had deployed about 2,000 troops to Mali earlier in 2013, which earned him the gratitude of the French, who were in command of the military operation there.