Chad has stated that it would discontinue military relations with former colonial power France.
The news came only hours after French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot’s arrival.
“The government of the Republic of Chad informs the national and international opinion of its decision to terminate the defense agreement signed with the French Republic,” Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
The French military constitutes Paris’s last foothold in the Sahel following the forced withdrawal of its troops from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
“This is not a break with France like Niger or elsewhere,” Koulamallah, whose country still hosts around a thousand French troops, said.
Koulamallah, at a press briefing after a meeting between President Mahamat Idriss Deby and Barrot, called France “an essential partner” but added it “must now also consider that Chad has grown up, matured, and is a sovereign state that is very jealous of its sovereignty.”
