By Mahamat Ramadane, Desire Danga Essigue and Portia Crowe N'DJAMENA (Reuters) -Chad deployed dozens of security forces in the capital amid rising tensions on Monday as polls closed and vote counting began in the first presidential election in Africa's Sahel region since a wave of coups.

Chad is set to become the first of Africa's current junta-led states to move to democratic rule with Monday's presidential vote. It will end a three-year transition imposed after the sudden death of long-serving leader Idriss Deby Itno while fighting rebels.

Chadians lined up on Monday to vote three years after military leader Mahamat Idris Deby seized power, in the first presidential election in Africa's Sahel region since a wave of coups. Analysts say Deby,

Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno widely expected to win poll as observers voice doubts over electoral process

Moundou, a city of small businesses nestled in Chad's fertile south, offers a stark contrast to the dusty capital of N'Djamena far to the north in the vast and largely desert Sahel nation.

Chadians vote for a president on Monday in an election purportedly aimed at ending military rule but dismissed by opponents of junta leader Mahamat Idriss Deby as a fix following