world
France and Chad Discuss Limited Military Ties One Year After 2025 Troop Expulsion
Paris and N'Djamena are negotiating a new security partnership without a permanent French military presence. The talks follow Chad's expulsion of roughly 1,000 French troops in January 2025.
Le MondeAudio version
Tap play to generate a narrated version.
Developing·Limited corroboration so far. This page will refresh as more sources emerge.
French President Emmanuel Macron met Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby at the Élysée Palace in Paris on January 29, 2026, to discuss resuming bilateral military cooperation. The two governments aim to establish a more discreet partnership that avoids a permanent French troop presence.
Le Monde reported that the renewed relationship is intended to be mutually beneficial while respecting Chad's assertion of national sovereignty.
Around 1,000 French soldiers were expelled from Chad on January 30, 2025. Chad acted in the name of national sovereignty, ending a long-standing French military footprint that dated to independence in 1960. Since the expulsion, Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby has explored security arrangements with the Emiratis, Turks, and Russians.
Le Monde reported that these alternatives proved unsatisfactory. The Emiratis have supported paramilitary groups in Sudan's civil war, creating complications for N'Djamena. Turkish drones were viewed as too expensive relative to their operational value, and Russian forces in Mali produced poor results.
France has repeatedly assisted embattled regimes in N'Djamena since 1960. It backed Idriss Déby, who governed Chad from 1990 until his death in 2021, after which his son Mahamat Idriss Déby assumed the presidency. Le Monde reported that France is now regarded in Chad as a historic and reliable ally compared with the other partners examined since the troop withdrawal.
