France has handed over its final military post in Chad to local authorities, two months after the former French colony in central Africa terminated its defense cooperation deal with Paris.
Chad has been a vital counterterrorism force in the region, and it was one of the last nations in which France maintained a significant military presence.
Following years of fighting Islamic militants with regional soldiers, French forces were driven out of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Those countries have drawn closer to Moscow, with Russian mercenaries stationed across the Sahel, the enormous area beneath the Sahara desert.
Chad’s army stated on Thursday that the Sergent Adji Kossei air base in the country’s capital, N’Djamena, has been handed back to local authorities by the French military.
In late December and early January, France handed up its other two military outposts, Faya in the north and Abeche in the east of the country. The French army had approximately 1,000 soldiers in Chad.
The government of Chad said last November that the termination of the defense cooperation agreement with France would allow the country, which attained independence in 1960, to reshape its strategic alliances in line with its own interests.
The government called the decision a turning point for the country.
Authorities in Chad have stated that the termination of the defense deal does not in any way call into doubt the historical links between the two nations and that they intend to continue their relationship with France in other areas of shared interest.
In December, Senegal and Ivory Coast also announced the departure of French troops from their countries, just as Paris was devising a new strategy that would sharply reduce its permanent troop presence in Africa.
