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https://www.france24.com/en/20190204-fr ... nvoy-Libya
http://en.rfi.fr/africa/20190204-french ... e-minister04/02/2019 - 13:34
French air strikes target convoy entering Chad from Libya
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.
France committed to anti-terror fight in Africa
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.
https://www.voanews.com/a/french-milita ... 71473.htmlA 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.
https://www.voanews.com/a/french-milita ... 71473.htmlThe 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.
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