By Miracle Ogunde
Hours after a visit by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot to Chad, the country has announced the termination of military cooperation with her former colonial power.
A statement by Chad’s Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah confirmed this on Facebook on Thursday.
“The government of the Republic of Chad informs national and international opinion of its decision to end the accord in the field of defence signed with the French Republic,”
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.”
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