French forces leave military base… handing it over to Chadian army
French forces handed over the Faya military base to the Chadian army on Thursday, after the departure of the French soldiers who were there, following the country’s announcement less than a month ago of the termination of the military cooperation agreement between it and France.
An unspecified number of French soldiers left the Faya base by land to the capital, N’Djamena, about 780 kilometers away.
The French General Staff said in a statement that the return of this base to the Chadian army comes according to the timetable set with the Chadian partner, and follows the course of the plan.
For its part, the Chadian Ministry of Armies stated in a statement by an official that it’s expected that the military vehicles that were stationed in the French bases in Faya, Largau, Abéché and N’Djamena will be transferred to France via the Cameroonian port of Douala, and that the sea voyage will take about 3 weeks.
A first unit of 120 French soldiers left N’Djamena for France last week, 10 days after French fighter jets left Chadian territory.
France has about 1,000 soldiers deployed in three military bases in Chad, which was a key axis of French deployment in Africa.
