France has begun the withdrawal of its soldiers from Chad.

The French defence ministry made this known on Friday after N’Djamena last month abruptly ended military cooperation with the former colonial power.

A contingent of 120 soldiers has already left the African country and returned home to France, the ministry said in a statement on Facebook.

This marked 10 days after French fighter aircraft left the Sahel country for good.

DAILY POST reports that Chad had been a key link in France’s military presence in Africa and its last foothold in the wider Sahel region.

The Frenched had already been forced out of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in the wake of a series of military coups.

Chad had on November 28, 2024 announced its decision to end a longstanding defence accord with Paris.

“At midday, 120 French soldiers took off from the military airport of N’Djamena on board an Airbus A330 Phoenix MRTT, headed for France,” the ministry said in a statement on Facebook.

The French army, which had some 1,000 personnel in the country, did not immediately comment on the announcement.

The departure on Friday of French soldiers took place in the presence of Chadian military authorities, which “testifies to the intensity of cooperation between the two countries in the field of security”, the statement said.

DAILY POST reports that Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, three Sahelian nations led by military juntas, will officially withdraw from the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, on January 29, 2025.

The decision, announced during the 66th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in Abuja, shows growing divisions within the regional bloc.

France withdraws soldiers from Chad