PARIS (Reuters) - French warplanes struck a rebel convoy in northern Chad on Sunday, helping local troops repel an incursion across the border from Libya, a sign France’s support for President Idriss Deby goes beyond fighting Islamist militants.

FILE PHOTO: Chad's President Idriss Deby arrives to attend a visit and a dinner at the Orsay Museum on the eve of the commemoration ceremony for Armistice Day in Paris, France, November 10, 2018. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

Mirage jets struck a column of 40 pickups carrying armed groups from Libya deep into Chadian territory, the French army said in a statement.

“This intervention at the request of Chadian authorities helped hinder this hostile advance and disperse the column,” it said.

The strikes were the first by French jets in support of Chadian troops since the rebel Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (CCMSR) based in southern Libya increased its activities last year in a bid to overthrow him.

The Union of Forces of Resistance (UFR), a rebel Chadian coalition created in 2009 after almost toppling Deby, said it was behind the offensive. CCMSR is a splinter group of the UFR.

“The aim is to bring Deby down,” a UFR official said. “We thought France would not intervene in Chad’s internal affairs, but it appears that it is offering no solutions for the Chadian people beyond keeping Deby in power to do their dirty work in the region.”

The official said two fighters had been killed and two trucks destroyed.

Deby has faced several rebellions since seizing power in 1990 in a military coup. International observers have questioned the fairness of elections that have kept him in office since and last year he pushed through constitutional reforms that could keep him on office until 2033.

France considers its former colony as vital in the fight against Islamist militants in West Africa and based its 4,500-strong counter-terrorism Operation Barkhane force in the capital N’djamena where the United States also has a base.

But Deby’s fight against Islamist militants - he has deployed troops to counter groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State in the Sahel and Lake Chad region- has strained his military and hit the oil-dependent economy, leading to growing dissatisfaction in one of the world’s poorest nations.

“Deby remains the most viable and solid partner in the region. The Chadians are counting on France for the Libyan border,” a French military source said.

Chad’s military command said the operation had neutralized the column of “mercenaries and terrorists” in Chadian territory after earlier operations by the Libyan National Army.

The LNA, the military wing of one of Libya’s two rival governments that operates in the east of the country under General Khalifa Haftar, began operations against Chadian rebels at the start of the year.

Haftar has close ties with France which has backed him against Islamist militants in Libya.</s>PARIS (Reuters) - French fighter jets struck targets in northern Chad on Sunday in support of local troops trying to repel a convoy of unidentified fighters that had crossed the border from Libya, France’s military said in a statement.

“A Mirage 2000 patrol of the French armed forces intervened jointly with the Chadian army in northern Chad to strike a column of 40 pickups of an armed group from Libya infiltrating deep into Chadian territory,” the armed forces said on Monday.

“This intervention at the request of Chadian authorities helped hinder this hostile advance and disperse the column.”

The statement did not say who was behind the incursion, but it was the first time French forces have hit targets in support of Chadian troops since a fledgling rebel movement based in southern Libya increased its activities last year.

The rebel movement, the Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (CCMSR), was founded in 2016 and has fought Chadian forces several times near the Libyan border since August.

The group, which claims to have several thousand fighters, says its goal is to overthrow President Idriss Deby. Deby took control of Chad in 1990 in a rebellion that toppled then-President Hissene Habre.</s>Ludovic Marin, AFP | A French Mirage 2000 aircraft takes off from an airbase in N'Djamena Dec. 2, 2018, in a Barkhane mission in Africa's Sahel region.

French fighter jets struck targets in northern Chad on Sunday in support of local troops trying to repel a convoy of unidentified fighters that had crossed the border from Libya, France's military said in a statement.

"A Mirage 2000 patrol of the French armed forces intervened jointly with the Chadian army in northern Chad to strike a column of 40 pickups of an armed group from Libya infiltrating deep into Chadian territory," the armed forces said on Monday.

"This intervention at the request of Chadian authorities helped hinder this hostile advance and disperse the column."

The warplanes are based near N'Djamena, the Chadian capital, as part of France's Operation Barkhane counter-terrorism force in the Sahel.

"The column had been spotted at least 48 hours beforehand," armed forces spokesman Patrik Steiger told AFP.

The Chadian airforce carried out strikes to try to repel it before asking the French to intervene, he said.

On Sunday morning, French planes made low warning passes over the column but it continued to advance, triggering a decision to scramble more fighters, which carried out two strikes at around 6pm Paris time.

Steiger said the group had crossed 400 kilometres (250 miles) of Chadian territory before being halted "between Tibesti and Ennedi" in the northwest.

He did not identify which armed group they belonged to.

The Chadian military has carried out several air strikes recently in the arid north against Libya-based rebels.

The French statement did not say who was behind the incursion, but it was the first time French forces have hit targets in support of Chadian troops since a fledgling rebel movement based in southern Libya increased its activities last year.

The rebel movement, the Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (CCMSR), was founded in 2016 and has fought Chadian forces several times near the Libyan border since August.

The group, which claims to have several thousand fighters, says its goal is to overthrow President Idriss Déby. Déby took control of Chad in 1990 in a rebellion that toppled then president Hissène Habré.

French President Emmanuel Macron visited Chad in December and reaffirmed French backing for African anti-extremist forces amid growing international concern about the chaos in Libya.</s>French warplanes on Sunday carried out air strikes to halt an armed group that entered northern Chad from Libya in a column of 40 pickups, the French military said, adding it acted at Chad's request.

In a statement on Monday, the military said that Mirage 2000 fighters intervened "together with the Chadian army" to "halt the hostile advance and disperse the column," which had "penetrated deep into Chadian territory".</s>PARIS (Reuters) - French fighter jets struck targets in northern Chad on Sunday in support of local troops trying to repel a convoy of unidentified fighters that had crossed the border from Libya, the French military said on Monday.

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.

The statement did not say who was behind the incursion, but it was the first time French forces have hit targets in support of Chadian troops since the CCMSR movement based in southern Libya increased its activities last year.

“A Mirage 2000 patrol of the French armed forces intervened jointly with the Chadian army in northern Chad to strike a column of 40 pickups of an armed group from Libya infiltrating deep into Chadian territory,” the armed forces said on Monday.

“This intervention at the request of Chadian authorities helped hinder this hostile advance and disperse the column.”

France considers its former colony as vital in the fight against Islamist militants in West Africa and the headquarters of its 4,500-strong counter-terrorism Operation Barkhane force is in the Chadian capital N’djamena. The United States also has a base in the city.

Deby has deployed thousands of battled-hardened troops to face threats from groups with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, which operate across the lawless, semi-arid Sahel band, and from Nigeria-based Boko Haram militants.

“Deby remains the most viable and solid partner in the region and the Chadians are counting on France for the Libyan border,” a French military source said.

However, Deby’s efforts have strained N’Djamena’s military and hit the oil-dependent economy, which has in turn led to growing internal dissatisfaction.

Deby, who closed the Libyan border last year, has faced several rebellions since coming to power in 1990 at the head of an insurrection that toppled then president Hissene Habre, but there has been relative calm since 2009.

The CCMSR, which says it has 4,500 fighters, was founded in 2014 and its ranks include former rebels from the Darfur region of neighbouring Sudan and former political allies of ex-president Habre.

Deby, a taciturn French-trained ex-fighter pilot who only survived a rebel attack on his presidential palace in 2008 thanks to support from Paris, has won election five times since coming to power.</s>The French armed forces have intervened in northern Chad and launched airstrikes at an armed group coming in from Libya, according to France’s Defense Ministry. The operation took place on Sunday and was organized in cooperation with the Chadian Army. A patrol of Mirage 2000 airplanes hit a column of 40 pickups coming from Libya that penetrated “deep into Chadian territory,” AP reported. The “intervention, in response to a request from Chadian authorities, helped hinder this hostile progression and disperse the column,” the ministry said. French President Emmanuel Macron visited Chad in December and reaffirmed French backing for African anti-extremist forces amid international concern about the chaos in Libya. Macron also met with French soldiers deployed in the Sahel region with Operation Barkhane, France’s largest overseas military mission.</s>French warplanes on Sunday struck twice to halt an armed group that crossed into northern Chad from Libya in a column of 40 pickups, the French military said, adding it acted at Chad’s request.

In a statement on Monday, the military said that Mirage 2000 fighters intervened “together with the Chadian army” to “halt the hostile advance and disperse the column,” which had crossed deep into Chadian territory.

The warplanes are based near N’Djamena, the Chadian capital, as part of France’s Barkhane counter-terrorism force in the Sahel.

The Chadian airforce carried out strikes to try to repel it before asking the French to intervene, he said.

On Sunday morning, French planes made low warning passes over the column but it continued to advance, triggering a decision to scramble more fighters, which carried out two strikes at around 6 p.m. Paris time.

Steiger said the group had crossed 400 kilometres (250 miles) of Chadian territory before being halted “between Tibesti and Ennedi” in the northwest.

He did not identify which armed group they belonged to.

The Chadian military has carried out several air strikes recently in the arid north against Libya-based rebels.

It also launched an operation last year aimed at “clearing out” illegal gold miners whose arrival in the far north has fomented unrest with locals.</s>A series of French airstrikes targeted a group of “mercenaries and terrorists” from Libya, Chad's defence minister told RFI on Monday. French airstrikes on Sunday struck a column of 40 vehicles that crossed into Chad from southern Libya, according to the French military, which said it got involved at the Chadian government's request.

French Mirage jets and the Chadian army “jointly intervened” on Sunday evening, according to a statement from the French army. The airstrikes targeted a convoy of 40 pickup trucks of an armed group that had travelled from Libya and was “penetrating deep into Chadian territory”.

The fighter jets, based at the N'Djamena base, first carried out a “show of force” flying low over the convoy. However, the column continued despite the warning and the French air force carried out two airstrikes, said the statement from the French defence ministry .

Chad's defence minister told RFI that it was a group of mercenaries and terrorists from Libya, including those linked to Al-Qaeda, who attempted to cross into Chad to “destabilise” the country.

“France helped us neutralise this column which was destroyed by our military aircraft,” said Daoud Yaya, head of Chad's armed forces.

“There's instability in Libya – it's full of terrorists,” said Yaya, adding that his government and French forces were ready to the same thing again if necessary. “We have bilateral cooperation with France and France intervened, they helped us to stop this column,” he added.

Internal Chadian affairs

However, the Union of Forces of Resistance (UFR) rebel group told RFI that the French government must stop meddling in Chad's “internal problems”, saying the strike had targeted its men.

“I find this hostility towards the Chadian people – it doesn't make any sense, because we think it's an internal problem,” said Youssouf Hamid, a spokeperson for the Union of Forces of Resistance (UFR) rebel group.

Hamid denied that the UFR group had been in southern Libya, saying it was on the Chadian-Libyan border, not in Libya's territory. He said two of their vehicles had been destroyed and some fighters injured by the airstrikes.

“When they say that it's a joint operation, joint in which sense? Was it Chadian pilots who flew the planes, no the pilots are French and they're French planes,” Hamid told RFI in a telephone interview. “It's unacceptable, France must review this position.”

UFR was formed in January 2009 by eight rebel groups opposed to Chad's President Idriss Deby, who came to power in 1990 after ousting his former boss Hissene Habre.</s>French warplanes on Sunday struck twice to halt an armed group that crossed into northern Chad from Libya in a column of 40 pickup trucks, the French military said, adding it acted at Chad’s request.

A rebel group opposed to President Idriss Deby said it had been the target of the strikes, and warned France that its act could stir “hostility towards the French.”

In a statement on Monday, the French military said that Mirage 2000 fighters intervened “together with the Chadian army” to “halt the hostile advance and disperse the column,” which had crossed deep into Chadian territory.

The warplanes are based near N’Djamena, the Chadian capital, as part of France’s Barkhane counter-terrorism force in the Sahel.

The Chadian airforce carried out strikes to try to repel it before asking the French to intervene, he said.

On Sunday morning, French planes made low warning passes over the column but it continued to advance, triggering a decision to scramble more fighters, which carried out two strikes at around 6:00 pm Paris time.

Steiger said the group had crossed 400 kilometres (250 miles) of Chadian territory before being halted “between Tibesti and Ennedi” in the northwest.

He did not identify which armed group they belonged to.

But the spokesman for Chad’s most active rebel group, the Union of Resistance Forces (UFR), said that the raid had targeted its men.

Reached by AFP from the Gabonese capital Libreville, UFR spokesman Youssouf Hamid said the strikes marked a “dangerous turn” by France in Chad’s “internal affairs.”

“The Chadian people will respond. It may take the form of showing hostility towards the French,” Hamid said.

“Paris has become a force that is hostile to the Chadian people,” he added.

Hamid did not give any details about the objective of the incursion.

The UFR was created in January 2009 from an alliance of eight rebel groups.

In February 2008, a tripartite insurgent group, moving in from the east, reached the gates of the presidential palace in N’Djamena before being repulsed by Deby’s forces.

Deby accused Sudan of supporting the attack, a charge that it denied.

In a separate development, forces loyal to Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar said on Monday they carried out air strikes at the weekend against Chadian rebels in southern Libya.

“Chadian mercenaries suffered heavy losses of men and equipment” in the Murzouk region in the operation on Sunday, said a spokesman for Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army.

It was not possible to confirm the report, and it was unclear if Sunday’s operation was linked to the French air strikes.

Chad, a vast and mostly desert country with more than 200 ethnic groups, has suffered repeated coups and crises since it gained independence from France in 1960.

Deby, a former head of the armed forces, became president of Chad in 1990 after ousting his former boss, Hissene Habre.

Under his presidency, the country has become a leading member in the fight against jihadism in the Sahel.

It is part of the West African coalition fighting Boko Haram and a member of the French-backed G5 Sahel anti-terror alliance, which also includes Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

The latest incursion follows several recent air strikes by the Chadian air force against Libya-based rebels in the far north.

It also launched an operation last year aimed at “clearing out” illegal gold miners whose arrival in the region has fomented unrest with locals.</s>The Mirage fighter-bombers targeted a convoy of pick-up trucks at the request of the president of Chad ALAMY

French jets have repelled a rebel convoy of 40 vehicles heading towards the capital of Chad from Libya, the French government has said.

Two flights of Mirage 2000 fighter-bombers hit the column of pick-up trucks 250 miles into Chad territory at the request of the government of President Déby, the defence ministry said.

The assault, carried out from the French airbase at N’djamena, was the latest in more than two decades of intermittent French actions to help Mr Déby to fight rebels threatening his regime.

An alliance of anti-Déby fighters, the Union of Forces of Resistance, said that its men were the target. Its spokesman in Gabon condemned the “dangerous turn of events” of France “intervening in the internal affairs” of Chad. “We are always…
At the request of Chadian authorities, French Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jets strike a convoy of around 40 pickups of an armed group that entered northern Chad from Libya.