Hundreds of people in Chad called for the withdrawal of French troops from the country on Friday, a week after the central African country ended its military truce with its former colonial ruler. Protesters in the capital N’Djamena chanted “Chad for us, out of France!” chanted. “We don’t want to see a single French person at the festival.”
Last week, Chad announced in a statement that it would end a defense cooperation agreement with France to redefine the strategic partnership in line with national priorities. France has about 1,000 troops in Chad, and the statement did not specify when they would leave. On Friday some protesters went to a military airbase where French soldiers are stationed and called for their departure.
Others gathered in front of the French embassy where they faced a much stronger security belt of Chadian forces protecting the embassy. “We no longer want a French presence in Chad,” former public health minister Dr. Hiseen Masar said.
“This protest will stop when France leaves Chad,” he added.
Chad was one of the last countries in the region in which France maintained a large military presence, having been withdrawn in recent years from Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso along with regional troops after years of fighting Islamic extremists. Those countries have drawn closer to Russia, with mercenaries stationed in the Sahel, a vast expanse beneath the Sahara desert.
Chad’s interim president, Mahamat Déby Itno, took power in 2021 after his father, who had ruled the country for more than three decades, was killed fighting rebels. Last year, the government announced that the 18-month transition period would be extended by two more years. Because of this there were protests across the country.
Chad said the decision to end the agreement would in no way call into question its historic relationship with France and that it wants to maintain relations in other areas of common interest.