Chad ended military cooperation with its former colonial power last month and French troops began leaving the country last week.
According to the French and Chadian military, France has handed over its first military base as part of the withdrawal of its forces from Chad.
Chad’s military chief of staff said on Thursday the base in Faya-Largeau in the north of the country had been handed over and that the army would update the public on progress in the withdrawal of French forces from bases in the eastern city of Abeche and the capital, N’Djamena.
The Chadian military said French troops left in vehicles for N’Djamena, 780 kilometers (480 miles) south, without giving an exact number. The French army had about 1,000 men in the country.
“The handover took place in accordance with the schedule and conditions agreed with Chad,” the French military chief of staff said separately.
Chad last month ended military cooperation with its former colonial power, and French troops began leaving the country on Friday, 10 days after the withdrawal of French warplanes.
The move comes as Chad prepares to hold parliamentary and local elections on Sunday.
According to the Chadian military, an Antonov 124 with 70 tons of cargo on board took off on Thursday as part of the withdrawal.
French authorities said military vehicles would leave by January and be repatriated via the Cameroonian port of Douala.
Chad was an important link in the French military presence in Africa and its last base in the wider Sahel following the withdrawal of French troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger following a series of military coups.
Military authorities in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have turned toward Russia in recent years.
The landlocked country of Chad borders the Central African Republic, Sudan, Libya and Niger, all of which host paramilitary forces from Russia’s Africa Corps, which has taken over Chad’s operations Wagner mercenary group on the continent.
Chad’s leader, General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, has also sought closer ties with Moscow in recent months, but talks to strengthen economic cooperation have not yet produced concrete results.
French soldiers and fighter planes have been stationed in Chad almost continuously since the country’s independence in 1960. They helped train the Chadian military.
The planes provided air support, which proved crucial on several occasions in preventing rebels from seizing power.
Deby’s election in May ended a three-year political transition triggered by the death of his father fighting with rebels in 2021.
Long-time ruler Idriss Deby Itno received support from the French army in 2008 and 2019 to put down rebel offensives.
