The Sergent Adji Kossei air base’s handover took place in a military ceremony held in this capital on Thursday, two months after the Chadian government’s decision to end the defense agreement with France.

Chad, a former French colony in Central Africa, has been one of the last countries in which France maintained a large military presence of about 1,000 troops.

French troops withdrew from the military bases in Faya, in the north, in late December and Abeche, in the east of the country, in early January.

Political analysts recall this Friday that in recent years, French troops have been expelled from Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso after serious disagreements with the military governments of those nations.

Senegal and Ivory Coast also announced in December 2024 the French troops’ withdrawal from their respective territories.

The French military presence in Africa leaves a trail of colonialism amid a continent’s rapprochement towards more profitable cooperation with the Russian Federation.

ef/iff/mem/fvt