France surrenders first base in Chad during withdrawal from former colony | Military news

Chad ended military cooperation with its former colonial power last month, and French troops began leaving the country last week.

France handed over its first military base as part of the withdrawal of its military forces from Chad, the French and Chadian militaries said.

Chad's chief of military staff said on Thursday that the base in Faya-Largeau in the north of the country had been handed over and the army would update the public on progress on the withdrawal of French forces from bases in the eastern city of Abeche and the capital, N'Djamena.

Chad's military said French troops had left in vehicles for N'Djamena, 780 km (480 miles) to the south, without giving an exact figure. The French army had about 1,000 personnel in the country.

“The handover took place in accordance with the calendar and conditions agreed with Chad,” the French army chief of staff said separately.

Chad last month end military cooperation with its former colonial power and French troops began leaving the country on Friday, 10 days after French warplanes left.

The move comes as Chad prepares to hold parliamentary and local elections on Sunday.

Chad's military said the Antonov 124 took off on Thursday with 70 tonnes of cargo on board as part of the withdrawal.

French officials said the military vehicles would leave by January and be repatriated through the Cameroonian port of Douala.

Chad was a key link in France's military presence in Africa and its last foothold in the wider Sahel region following the withdrawal of French troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger following a series of military coups.

Military authorities in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have turned to Russia in recent years.

Landlocked Chad borders the Central African Republic, Sudan, Libya and Niger, all of which host paramilitary forces from Russia's Africa Corps, which took over the operations of Mercenary group Wagner on the continent.

Chad's leader, General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, has also sought closer ties with Moscow in recent months, but talks to strengthen economic cooperation have yet to yield concrete results.

French soldiers and warplanes have been stationed in Chad almost continuously since the country's independence in 1960. They have helped train the Chadian army.

The planes provided air support that proved decisive in several cases in stopping the rebels trying to seize power.

Debi's election in May ended a three-year political transition triggered by the death of his father in a battle with rebels in 2021.

Longtime ruler Idriss Deby Itno had received support from the French army to quell rebel offensives in 2008 and 2019.