Chad has ordered the withdrawal of all French troops from the country by January 31, 2025, marking a shift in the bilateral relationship.
The demand comes about two weeks after Chad terminated its defence and military cooperation agreements with France.
French military officials have expressed concerns over the feasibility of the timeline, citing the logistical challenges of evacuating 1,000 soldiers and their equipment within seven weeks.
“Only seven weeks to get a thousand soldiers and a large amount of equipment out, it’s impossible,” France’s RFI radio station quoted a senior French defence official.
Negotiations between the two nations are ongoing. Chad has rejected a French proposal for a withdrawal timeline extending into March, seeking an earlier departure before the start of Ramadan in late February.
West Africa Weekly reported that the withdrawal process had already begun following Chad’s decision in late November to terminate its defence cooperation agreement with France, a decision officially confirmed by the appointment of a commission tasked with overseeing the severance of military ties.
The withdrawal began on December 10, with the departure of two Mirage 2000-D fighter jets from N’Djamena, the capital. Evacuations of the Faya-Largeau and Abéché bases are scheduled to start next week. Chad expects no French military presence on its soil within a few months.
According to the Chad government, terminating its defence cooperation agreement with France would help the country assert its independence and build better partnerships that align with its national interests.
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