(N'Djamena) In a scene reminiscent from the 1980s when
French defended Chad from an invasion from Libya, French fighter jets struck a
convoy of armed men who had advanced into Chad from Libya. The convoy had been
spotted by the Chad military and they had carried out airstrikes on it to no
avail. So they asked the French for help. Two fighter jets from the French Operation
Barkhane counter-terrorism force were deployed to have a look and their initial
slow low level flyby over the advancing convoy apparently didn’t deter this
armed force from turning around and returning 400 miles back into Libya. So the
gloves were taken off and a couple of strikes by French Mirage 2000D put paid
to the latest attempt to invade CHAD from the North.
The strikes could be the first official backing by Paris of President Idriss Deby as he looks to quell a fledgling rebel movement, the Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (CCMSR) that seeks to overthrow him.
Military Command Council for the Wellbeing of the Republic (CCMSR) is an armed rebel group in the north of Chad. CCMSR’s goals is the overthrow of the government of President Déby that it considers unjust, oppressive and non-caring for its people.
