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France will keep troops in junta-run Chad as it retreats elsewhere in Africa following crises with other military regimes. Around 1,000 French troops are stationed in Chad, one of a dwindling number of French allies in the region.
France will keep troops in junta-run Chad as it retreats elsewhere in Africa following crises with other military regimes. Around 1,000 French troops are stationed in Chad, one of a dwindling number of French allies in the region. The last French troops withdrew from Niger in December, marking an end to more than a decade of French military operations in West Africa’s Sahel region. Niger’s new ruling generals demanded the departure of the troops following a coup in the former French colony on July 26.
Macron has requested talks with Chadian authorities on “an evolution” of France’s military deployment to regional security and military challenges, stated Jean-Marie Bockel, Macron’s envoy to Africa after meeting with Chad’s ruler Deby Itno in N’Djamena. Bockel also said he expressed to Deby Itno France’s admiration for Chad’s transition to civilian rule, a process that began after the junta chief took power following more than three decades of his father’s iron-fisted rule.
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Deby Itno will run in a May 6 presidential election returning power to civilian rule that he looks all but certain to win, with major opposition figures exiled, coopted, or killed. His main rival and cousin Yaya Dillo Djerou was killed last week in what his party called an “execution”. The government said Dillo violently resisted his arrest in a shoot-out with soldiers. Deby Itno, 39, initially pledged to return power to civilians within 18 months but pushed back the date by another two years. He also previously said he would not contest the election.
