France to hold joint air exercises with Chad
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Punch
France plans a stopover by two Mirage 2000 fighter jets and a transport aircraft in Chad, with training activities to strengthen the capabilities of the Chadian air force. The resumption of cooperation follows the termination of the security agreement in 2024, according to the French military staff cited by Punch.
Two French Mirage 2000 fighter jets and a CASA transport aircraft will soon stop in Chad to conduct training activities with Chadian forces, the French army announced on Thursday, according to Punch. The stopover is part of a joint military exercise planned for November with France, Ivory Coast and Gabon.
The operation is intended to help develop the capabilities of the Chadian air force. Xavier Rival, spokesman for the French chief of staff, said cooperation was resuming in accordance with Chad’s sovereignty and that Paris wanted to help combat regional instability.
Relations between the two countries had seriously deteriorated in 2024, when N’Djamena ended a security agreement concluded with Paris six decades earlier and demanded the departure of French troops. They have recently improved following a meeting between Emmanuel Macron and Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno in mid-October.
France and Chad signed a declaration of intent on 14 October aimed at reorganising their defence cooperation. According to the Élysée, this cooperation resumed at the beginning of the year in military training, equipment supplies and intelligence-sharing, following the declaration relaunching military cooperation.
