Towards final withdrawal… France hands over a second military base to Chad

France announced the handover of a second military base to Chad during a ceremony held Saturday in Abéché, as part of the decision taken by N’Djamena in November to end bilateral military agreements.
“Today, January 11, 2025, marks the handover of the Abéché base,” Chadian Minister of the Armed Forces, Issac Malou Djamous, said during the official handover of the air base.

French bases in Chad

He explained that what is happening is an important stage, towards the final and complete withdrawal of this army from our country,” while an official with the French forces in the Sahel region said that 90 out of 120 soldiers in the region left for N’Djamena on Saturday.
He pointed out the departure of the first convoy of equipment to the port of Douala on Friday evening.
The same source added that the soldiers were assisting the Chadian army in security tasks, but also in training and providing care to the population.

French military presence in Chad

The Chadian Minister of the Armed Forces referred to the date of January 31, which “will represent the final departure of French forces,” stressing that the date is “mandatory,” “irreversible,” and “non-negotiable.”

Fabien Talon, representative of the French embassy in Chad, who was accompanied by General Pascal Yanni, head of the African Command established by the French army since the summer of 2024, stressed that “partnerships are developing” and “solidarity between two sovereign states remains.”
Last month, French fighter planes that had been stationed in the Chadian capital for decades left N’Djamena, then the first contingent of 120 soldiers left, and finally handed over the Faya base in the desert north of the country.
Chadian President Mohamed Idriss Déby Itno, who has been in power since 2021, said that the military agreements with France are “outdated” given “the current political and geostrategic realities.”

Operation Barkhane

Chad was France’s last focal point in the Sahel region, and Paris deployed up to 5,000 soldiers there as part of Operation Barkhane, which ended at the end of November 2022.
France was planning to reduce its forces as part of reorganizing its military presence on the African continent.
In the period between 2022 and 2023, four other former French colonies – Niger, Mali, the Central African Republic and Burkina Faso – asked Paris to withdraw its army from their territories, and those countries approached Russia.