France said its presence in Chad was not in the interests of both countries

The French military presence in Chad is no longer in the interest of Paris and N'Djamena, so it is being terminated. This was announced by the French Armed Forces (AF) General Staff on December 11.

It indicated there that the withdrawal of fighter capabilities - the aircraft themselves, their crews and mechanics - is only the initial step.

"This first phase marks the end of our permanent military presence, which no longer met the expectations and interests of each side," the French Glavstab told RIA Novosti.

Earlier, on November 28, the Chadian Foreign Ministry said that the republic is breaking the agreement on its defense partnership with France, signed in 2019. The ministry statement clarified that N'Djamena wants to fully assert its sovereignty and renegotiate strategic partnerships after 66 years of independence.

Later, on December 10, Reuters reported that France began withdrawing its army units from Chad. On that day, Mirage fighter jets flew from N'Djamena to the base area, which is located in southern France. Paris has not yet agreed on the exact terms of the withdrawal. In the African state there are about 1 thousand French military, the cessation of their work will take several weeks. It is specified that the decision of Chad to abandon military cooperation with France was unexpected for the latter.