Chad Ends Military Cooperation With France

Just hours after French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot visited, Chad announced on Thursday that it would stop working with former colonial powers France.

Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah released a statement on Facebook, “The Republic of Chad informs the national and international opinion of its decision to terminate the agreement in the field of defense signed with the French Republic.”

After being forced to leave Mali, Burkinabe, and Niger, the Chad is a crucial component of France’s military presence in Africa. It is Paris’s final foothold in the Sahel.

“This is not a break with France like Niger or elsewhere”, Koulamallah, whose country still hosts around a thousand French troops, told AFP.

Koulamallah called France “an essential partner” after a meeting between President Mahamat Idriss Deby and Barrot, adding that it “must now also take into account that Chad has grown up, matured, and is a sovereign state that is very jealous of its sovereignty.”

Barrot, who arrived in Ethiopia on Thursday evening, could not immediately be reached for comment.

– ‘ Historic turning point’-

The Sahel nation is the last to house French forces.

Deby has been in charge since 2021 when rebels assassinate his father, Idriss Deby Itno, 30 years into his reign.

Deby’s elder frequently relyed on French military support to halt rebel offensives, including those that occurred in 2008 and 2019.

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Boko Haram and other militant organizations pose a serious threat to the landlocked nation.

It borders the Central African Republic, Sudan, Libya and Niger, all of which host Russian paramilitary forces from the Wagner group.

Deby has recently pressed for more economic ties with Moscow, but discussions have not yielded any tangible results.

Koulamallah referred to the military cooperation’s end as a “historic turning point,” adding that it was the result of “in-depth analysis.”

“Chad, in accordance with the provisions of the agreement, undertakes to respect the terms laid down for its termination, including the notice period”, he said in the statement, which did not give a date for the withdrawal of French troops.

The announcement comes just days after Bassirou Diomaye Faye, president of Senegal, told AFP that France should shut down its military installations there.

According to Faye, “Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country, and sovereignty does not accept the existence of military bases in a sovereign country,” the country’s president said on Thursday.

Source: Channels TV