G5 Sahel: Chad confirms dispatch of a battalion to Niger at the end of March

The joint force G5 Sahel. (Drawing). RFI / Olivier Fourt

Text by: Aurélie Bazzara Follow

Chad confirms the dispatch of a battalion to the three border area, an area between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso which today concentrates the largest of the jihadist attacks in the Sahel. This announcement was made at the end of the third follow-up meeting to the Pau summit, which was held on Friday March 13 at the Presidency of the Republic in N'Djamena in the presence in particular of the French special envoy for the Sahel, Christophe Bigot.

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From our correspondent in N'Djamena,

Nearly 500 Chadian soldiers are preparing to leave for Niamey in Niger in a few days. This was announced by the Chadian Minister of Defense. Mahamat Abali Salah explains that it took time for Chad to prepare this new battalion. “ Chad had the battalion at the border with Libya. We cannot empty the essential area which is the border with Libya. We took this time to constitute a second battalion which must make the trip by the end of March. On the material and human level, the battalion is ready ”.

" A decisive boost "

The dispatch of this battalion was at the heart of negotiations between Paris and N'Djamena. In particular to settle the question of the cost of such a deployment. Christophe Bigot , France's special envoy for the Sahel, ensures that France will support Chad. “ I don't want to go into too much detail, but it is help that can be financial, operational or technical. The main thing is that the Chadian needs have been met and that the will of President Déby can be translated into an action which will give a decisive boost to the action carried out by the joint force of the G5 in this area of ​​the three borders. "

France's special envoy for the Sahel also recalls that other partners are helping the joint force of the G5 Sahel, in particular the European Union, which finances equipment such as armored vehicles. 80% of this equipment has already been delivered.

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  • Chad
  • G5 Sahel
  • France
  • Terrorism