French forces depart from Abeche military base in Chad
About 100 French troops left the Abeche base in Chad early Saturday as part of an agreement to withdraw its military forces, said Chadian authorities.
“The General Staff of the Armed Forces informs the National and International public that today, January 11, 2025, marks the departure of the French Forces from Abéché.
“The ceremony for the retrocession of this base took place in the presence of the Minister of the Armed Forces for Veterans and War Victims,” according to a statement by the General Staff of the Chadian armed forces.
The last stage of the French departure is the withdrawal from the Sergeant Adji Kossei base in the national capital of N'djamena, with a departure deadline of Jan. 31.
Chad gave Paris six weeks to remove 1,000 soldiers and their equipment by Jan. 31.
The Chadian Foreign Ministry announced Nov. 28 the end of military cooperation with France, after which Paris began withdrawing soldiers.
Military cooperation agreements signed with France in 1978 and revised in 2019 were denounced by the Chadian government in November.
President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno described them as "obsolete" and said they provided "no added value.”
Chad was the last country to host French military units in Africa’s Sahel region after France withdrew units from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
In recent years, France and its military forces have been steadily pushed out of several African nations, signaling a significant decline in the former colonial power’s influence on the continent.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye announced in late December that all foreign troops would leave Senegal starting in 2025. According to the French Defense Ministry, France has around 350 soldiers deployed in Senegal.
The Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara announced on Jan. 1 that French troops would withdraw from the country later this month.
