Operation Épervier
| Operation Épervier | |||||||
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| Part of the Chadian–Libyan conflict | |||||||
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Operation Épervier was the
Containing Libya
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Operation Épervier began on the night of February 13th and 14th 1986, under the defence agreement between France and Chad, and was prepared during a meeting in
The
For months the troops remained largely inactive, and the air force limited itself to reconnaissance missions for the Chadian army, remaining careful not to cross the 16th parallel. But when in October the leader of the GUNT
On 2 January 1987 Habré's troops invaded the capital of the
In what appears to have been an escalation, Libyan forces raided the French-Chadian base of Kalaït on January 11; it was the first direct attack on the French contingent, which suffered no losses. Additionally, Gaddafi prepared a vast offensive: he added 4,000–6,000 troops to the 8,000 men stationed in the
Habré concentrated most of his forces near Fada; and when on March 18 the Libyan offensive was at last started the result was a disaster for Gaddafi. 1,200 Libyans were killed and 500 taken prisoner, and
Libyan expulsion from Chad did not end the Chadian–Libyan conflict: the dispute over who was the rightful possessor of the
On September 11, the Chadian and Libyan governments accept a ceasefire mediated by the
The Chadian–Libyan conflict officially came to an end in October 1988, when Chad resumed formal diplomatic relations with Libya, in accordance with recommendations made by the OAU. As a result, the French contingent started decreasing in size. Cost was another reason for a decrease in France's military presences: in 1987 alone, Operation Épervier had cost France 1.7 billion French francs. In 1989 the number of men deployed to Chad had fallen to 1,000, and many minor bases had been dismantled.
New president in Chad, 1990s
Habré was an indirect victim of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The diminished importance of Africa for French policy also brought France to become more critical of Habré's bad human rights record. Habré moved to free himself from French tutelage by seeking friendship with the United States. Relations between Paris and N'Djamena diminished, to the point that the French decided to remain neutral in the conflict that started in April 1989 between the President and his former general Idriss Déby. Déby promised not to attack the French base at Abéché, and in his march to the capital was followed by an officer of the DGSE, Paul Fontbonne.
Déby occupied the Chadian capital on 3 December 1990, with the French maintaining themselves neutral. The increasing pillaging in the city did cause the troops to react: they secured the city's key-points (the airport, the
With Déby in power, while Franco-Chadian relations remained good, those with Libya deteriorated considerably. Gaddafi sent a request to Déby for the deportation to Libya of the
The operation's key roles since have been logistical support in the restructuring and reduction of the
In theory, Operation Épervier, originally created to contain Libyan expansionism, should have come to an end with the settlement of all issues among the two countries; but Chad came to be seen as the "French aircraft carrier of the desert", of key strategic importance as one of the five countries (the others were Djibouti, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Gabon) with a continuing French military presence in August 2002. In that period Operation Épervier could count on 951 men, deployed in the bases of Hadji Kossei near N'Djamena and that of Croci next to Abéché.
New Sudanese threat, 2000s
The threat represented by Sudan and its proxies had already brought the French forces to increase their units to 1,200 troops based near
Before and after the Battle of N'Djamena, French airplanes participated in reconnaissance missions to determine the scope of Sudanese involvement.[5] The French forces also played a small but important part in the battle of N'Djamena, where they provided logistical support to the government but without taking sides in the fighting. They also provided the Chadian army with intelligence on the enemy's movements, and fired warning shots near the rebel column.[6]
In 2006, President Déby responded to increasing instability by threatening to expel the 200,000 Sudanese Fur refugees: "If after June we can't guarantee the security of our citizens and the refugees, then it is up to the international community to find another country to shelter these refugees".[7]
On 1 August 2014, Operation Épervier was replaced by Operation Barkhane.
References
- ^ "France's Ties With African Leaders Fading". ABC News. 22 April 2006. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008.
- ^ The Ottawa Citizen, Page A7, 18 February 1986
- ^ "Library | Amnesty International". Amnesty.org. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
- ^ "The French army helped the Chadian government". Le Figaro. 19 April 2006. Archived from the original on November 18, 2006.
- ^ "AU investigates if Sudan backing rebels in Chad". CNN. 21 April 2006.[dead link]
- ^ Lacey, Marc (13 April 2006). "Rebels Are Repelled in Capital of Chad". New York Times. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- ^ Lacey, Marc (15 April 2006). "After Battle in Capital, Chad Threatens to Expel Sudanese". New York Times. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
External links
- French Ministry of Defence, Elements francais au Tchad / French Forces Chad, accessed September 2008
- Opération Epervier (in French)
- Relief in N'Djamena Archived 2021-02-27 at the Wayback Machine