France starts withdrawal from former colony
Two French fighter jets left Chad on Tuesday, signaling the start of Paris’ withdrawal from the central African nation and a dramatic reduction in its military involvement in the wider Sahel region.
The Mirage warplanes left the Chadian capital of N’Djamena on Tuesday and returned to their base in eastern France. While Paris has more jets and around 1,000 soldiers in Chad, French military spokesman Colonel Guillaume Vernet told reporters that the move marked “the beginning of the return of French equipment stationed in N’Djamena.”
A French colony since the turn of the 20th century, Chad was granted independence in 1960. However, it remained tied to its former ruler through Paris’ control of the Central African CFA Franc and the presence of French troops since the 1980s.
The French base in N’Djamena served as the headquarters of France’s anti-terrorism operation in the wider Sahel region, but the perceived ineffectiveness of French forces in combating jihadism led to the operation ending in 2022, and multiple countries terminating military agreements with Paris.
Chad ended its defense cooperation agreement with France in November, following the lead of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, all of which are now led by military governments following a series of coups d’etat. Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have all pursued closer security and trade partnerships with Russia in the wake of the French pullout.
In June, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Chad to discuss trade, economic cooperation, and strategic plans outlined by President Vladimir Putin and Chadian leader Mahamat Idriss Deby during a January meeting in Moscow.
It is unclear when the remainder of French troops and equipment will leave Chad. Vernet said that a timeline for the drawdown would be finalized in the coming weeks. It is also unclear whether any of the 1,000-strong French contingent will remain in N’Djamena afterwards.
After the drawdown is complete, France will maintain a military footprint in the West African states of Gabon, Ivory Coast, and Senegal. However, in an interview with Le Monde last month, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye promised that “there will soon be no more French troops in Senegal,” referring to Paris’ plans to reduce its presence there from 350 to 100 soldiers. Similar drawdowns are underway in Gabon and Ivory Coast.
