Chad President orders French troops to leave

N'DJAMENA, Chad

Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby has defended his decision to break military ties with France, saying at a news conference Sunday that their defense pact no longer meets Chad’s security needs.

The decision requires France to withdraw its troops from the central African nation and echoes growing anti-French sentiment with civil society groups who say it is long overdue.

Deby said military ties with France that have existed for close to 65 years are in no way helping to rescue Chad from what he calls growing security challenges, including terrorism and armed conflicts.

In a Sunday broadcast on state TV, Deby said his decision to end cooperation agreements with the French military is part of a promise he made during his May 23 inauguration, ending three years of military transition.

In the message, Deby said he would build reciprocal relations only with friendly nations that respect each other's independence and sovereignty and assist each other in times of crisis. Deby promised to stop ties with countries he said behaved as if Chad had remained their colony.

The central African state first announced that it was ending military ties with France last week. The announcement came after French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot visited Chad and was told that Chad's military is strong enough to protect civilians and their property, according to government officials.

Last Friday, the French foreign ministry said it had taken note of Chad’s decision to end the military agreement with Paris, but gave no further details.

Deby's decision has reignited debates on what civil society and opposition groups call France's overbearing influence provoking tensions in several African countries, especially Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and Senegal.

Mamadou Doudet, coordinator of Chad’s Patriotic Movement, an opposition political party, said he was part of several dozen civil society organizations and opposition parties that met in Chad's capital, N'Djamena, on Monday to ask Deby to order the departure of over a thousand French troops stationed in Chad.

Doudet said the presence of French troops in Chad is of no use. He said Chad's civil society and opposition find it very difficult to understand why French troops did not assist Chad last month when Boko Haram attacked and killed 40 Chadian soldiers in a military garrison in Lake Chad shared by Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger.

It is not the first time Chadian civil society and opposition groups sought the expulsion of French troops. In November 2023, the groups said Deby should ensure some 1,000 French troops stationed in Chad and several thousand others expelled from Niger should leave Chad before the end of 2023.

Yet, close to 1,000 French troops remain in Chad.

On Monday, the Concertation Group of Chad's Political Actors, or GCAP, condemned Deby’s decision to end military cooperation with France.

GCAP spokesperson Max Kemkoye said Chad's military is not strong enough to handle the many security challenges facing the country. He accused Deby of not consulting his government before making the decision, a claim VOA could not independently verify.