WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States will temporarily withdraw part of its forces based in Chad, Joe Biden administration officials said on Thursday, a decision that comes days after the announcement of the departure of deployed American soldiers in neighboring Niger.
In a letter dated April 4 addressed to the Chadian Minister of the Armed Forces and seen by Reuters, the chief of staff of the Chadian air force Amine Ahmed Idriss said he had ordered the United States to cease its activities on the Adji-Kossei air base near N’Djamena, believing that the “Americans” had not provided documents justifying their presence there.
General Patrick Ryder, Pentagon spokesman, said part of the American forces would be repositioned outside Chad as part of a review of the terms of security cooperation with N’Djamena which will resume after the presidential election Chadian news of May 6.
An American official specified that a few dozen members of the special forces stationed in Chad would be temporarily redeployed in Germany.
A thousand French soldiers are also deployed in Chad, one of the last key partners of the West in Sahelian Africa, particularly in the fight against jihadist groups.
(Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart and Daphne Psaledakis; Jean-Stéphane Brosse for the French version)
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