Thousands of people attended the funeral of Chad"s slain leader Idriss Deby on Friday, with French President Emmanuel Macron leading tributes to the long-ruling strongman whose death in a battle with rebels has thrown the country into crisis. Macron said France would not let anyone threaten the stability of its former colony - a reflection of worries that more turmoil will hamper the fight against Islamist militants across the Sahel region. Deby, a lynchpin in Western security strategy, was killed on Monday in a battle against a rebel army led by dissident army officers who are not linked to jihadists, according to Chadian authorities. France also supported a transition to democracy in Chad, Macron said in his speech to mourners, after a military council took power following Deby"s death. A source at the French presidency said France and regional countries were pushing for a mixed civilian-military transitional government. A prominent opposition leader, Succes Masra, endorsed that approach, calling for a civilian interim president with a vice president named by the military. The African Union"s Peace and Security Council expressed "grave concern" about the military takeover and urging the authorities to "expeditiously" move to hand power over to civilians. The military council has said it intends to oversee an 18-month transition to elections while leading the response to the rebel offensive. The rebels said on Friday their command centre was bombed on Wednesday night in an attempt to kill their leader. They have swept south across the vast desert nation from their bases in Libya, and have said they are about 200-300 km (125-190 miles) from the capital, N"Djamena.