29.06.2015 BBC Afrique

Une explosion a fait 11 morts dont 5 policiers à Gigel, un quartier de N’Djamena, la capitale tchadienne.

Selon le correspondant de la BBC sur place, c’est une opération de contrôle de routine qui a mal tourné.

Les policiers étaient en train de perquisitionner une maison où résident des personnes suspectées de terrorisme. Ces dernières ont alors actionné des explosifs qu’ils stockaient sur place.

Deux attaques simultanées contre le commissariat central et l'école de police de N'Djamena avaient fait au moins 33 morts et une centaine de blessés le 15 juin.

Ces attaques n'ont pas été revendiquées mais le Tchad les a attribuées au groupe nigérian Boko Haram.

L'armée tchadienne est en première ligne de la lutte contre Boko Haram.

Une opération militaire régionale a été lancée conjointement par le Nigeria, le Tchad, le Niger et le Cameroun depuis le début de l'année contre l'insurrection de Boko Haram.

12 March 2015 defenceWeb (Reuters)

The United States supports the creation of a West African force of up to 10,000 troops to fight Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram, a U.S. defence official said on Wednesday.

The 54-nation African Union has approved the force and has asked the United Nations to endorse it urgently, after attacks by the group in northeastern Nigeria and neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon as it seeks to carve out an Islamic state.

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for African Affairs Amanda J. Dory said on a visit to Cameroon that Washington, one of five veto-holding members of the U.N. Security Council, would back a U.N. resolution.

"The U.S. is providing diplomatic support in terms of engagement in the U.N. Security Council for the awaited resolution authorising the deployment of a Multinational Joint Task Force by the African Union against Boko Haram," she told state radio.

If approved, the new force would receive U.N. funding and would be likely to result in a bigger and better resourced operation than the offensive currently being mounted against the militants by Nigeria and its neighbours.

Boko Haram has killed thousands of people in northeastern Nigeria in its six-year insurgency and last week pledged allegiance to the Islamic State which has created a self-declared caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria.

However, a perception that Nigeria was failing to deal with the militants alone, and a growing number of cross-border attacks, prompted Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon to launch their existing operation to try to contain the militants.

Nigeria government spokesman Mike Omeri said on Wednesday that Nigeria and its allies had recovered a total of 36 towns from Boko Haram.

Diplomats said the African Union Peace and Security Council was due to discuss on Thursday the text of a possible resolution that could then be circulated to the 15 U.N. Security Council members.

Chad's U.N. Ambassador Mahamat Cherif has said he hoped the council could vote on a resolution by end-March.

France, which holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council, has been seeking to rally support for the resolution in time for a vote by early April, diplomats said.

The United States has already helped Cameroon's army security equipment to fight Boko Haram and France is increasing its own West African counter-insurgency force to support regional troops fighting Boko Haram.

10 March 2015 by Africom - defenseWeb

The annual Flintlock exercise wrapped up on Monday in N’Djamena with a closing ceremony that brought together senior leaders from over 20 participating countries.

The Chadian exercise director, Brig. Gen. Zakaria Ngobongue, when bidding farewell to the guests and participants from different African and Western partner nations, who trained tirelessly in Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and Tunisia, thanked the troops for their professionalism. “I am pleased to note that the progress made during this exercise was tangible and these results were reached thanks to willing participants.”

Ngonbongue thanked partner nations for the quality medical and humanitarian assistance that benefited citizens in locations near Mao, Faya and Moussoro. Similar medical activities were also conducted in Agadez, Niger.

The closing ceremony of the Flintlock exercise was also attended by the Commanding General of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), Gen. David Rodriguez, who thanked Chad for being a great host to this year’s Flintlock despite the security challenges the country faces.

“It is important to recognize that exercise Flintlock 2015 was successfully conducted by Chad and other African partners while actively engaged in combat operations against Boko Haram. The capacity to execute real world operations while simultaneously training to increase capacity and capability, demonstrates a level of proficiency exhibited only by an extremely professional, capable, and disciplined military,” said Rodriguez during the closing ceremony.

This year’s exercise was the largest Flintlock to date and has continued to build on the success of previous exercises. The three-week Chad hosted event included the implementation of a collaborative Command and Control and information sharing systems, which will remain in place for African partners to share operational information and intelligence with each other, as well as international partners.

Over 1,000 personnel from over 20 countries participated in Flintlock ‘15, with locations in Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and Tunisia. Ten flight crews from Belgium, the United States, Canada, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, Italy, and the United Kingdom moved most of the troops and 500,000 pounds of cargo with 113 flights. In all the locations, each soldier received 150 hours of training.

They also conducted four community activities, met with key leaders, and treated 1,800 people in several medical assistance clinics. Chadian and U.S. military, as well as U.S. Embassy personnel, also conducted outreach to an orphanage in N’Djamena, supporting victims of war, HIV, and poverty. With the support of non-governmental organization Spirit of America, $4,500 of educational supplies, hygiene tools, and basic items like blankets, sheets, towels, and mosquito nets were given to 59 orphans.

The tactical portion of Flintlock 2015 consisted of small-unit combined training and activities involving partner nation counter-terrorism units and military humanitarian relief operations to help improve the basic medical, dental and veterinary access for some communities in Chad and Niger.

As an enduring exercise, Flintlock is not focused on any specific security situation, but instead on developing security capacity, building professionalism, and strengthening bonds among exercise participants. Flintlock exercises began in 2005 and are conducted by the Special Operations Command Forward – West Africa (SOCFWD-WA) and sponsored by Africa Command’s Special Operations component to develop the capacity of and collaboration among African security forces to protect civilian populations across the Sahel region of Africa.

Flintlock exercises strengthen security institutions, promote multilateral sharing of information, and develop interoperability among the partner nations of the Trans-Sahara Counter Terrorism Partnership (TSCTP). Through exercises such as Flintlock, the United States Special Operations Command provides military training opportunities to foster relationships of peace, security, and cooperation among all Trans-Saharan nations through the TSCTP program.

03 March 2015 defenceWeb (Reuters)

When battle-hardened Chadian troops overran a Boko Haram camp in northern Nigeria last week, they wanted to press deep into territory controlled by the Islamist group but Nigeria refused to let them.

Having defeated al Qaeda in Mali two years ago, Chad's military believes it could could finish off Boko Haram alone. It has notched up victories that have pushed the Nigerian militants back from the Cameroonian border.

But with presidential elections this month, Nigeria is keen to press ahead with its own military campaign against Boko Haram, aiming to push it out of major towns before the March 28 ballot.

In a country proud to be a major African power, it would be an embarrassment to President Goodluck Jonathan as he seeks reelection for a smaller nation to tackle Nigeria's security problems, diplomats say.

In their forward base in the town of Gambaru on the Nigeria-Cameroon border, Chadian soldiers displayed dozens of guns seized from Boko Haram and a burnt-out armoured vehicle painted with black and white Arabic script.

"We turned back because Nigeria did not authorise us to go any further," army spokesman Colonel Azem Bermandoa said.

Nigeria's spokesman for operations in the northeast, Mike Omeri, said cooperation between Chadian and Nigerian forces has brought some major military successes and any issues would be resolved via existing command structures.

But the Chadians say there have been no joint operations between the two forces. Chad's offer to join a Nigerian offensive to capture Baga, site of one of Boko Haram's worst atrocities in January, was rebuffed, Bermandoa said.

Officials from Chad, Niger and Cameroon say lack of cooperation from Nigeria has for months hampered efforts to put together a regional taskforce against Boko Haram. Chad was compelled to take unilateral action in January, under a deal that allows it to pursue terrorists into Nigeria, after Boko Haram violence started to choke off imports to its economy.

With Niger and Cameroon deploying thousands of troops on their borders, blocking escape routes for Boko Haram, the tide may be turning. In what Nigeria has branded a sign of desperation, the Islamist group has carried out wave of suicide attacks and threatened to disrupt the election.

Francois Conradie, analyst with South African-based NKC Research, said that if the current offensive can be sustained, Boko Haram could quickly be driven out of the remaining towns it holds. It would, however, remain a deadly rural guerrilla force.

“All of this is good news for stability and will probably be to Mr Jonathan’s electoral advantage,” he said.

OPPOSITION CRITICISES RELIANCE ON CHAD

Many in Nigeria ask why it took so long to act. Boko Haram killed thousands last year and kidnapped many more in its six-year campaign for an Islamist emirate in Africa's largest oil producer.

Niger, Cameroon and Chad say Nigeria neglected the uprising in its economically backward northeast, an opposition stronghold. Borno state is home to two percent of Nigeria's 170 million people.

But in recent months, Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who is running as the presidential candidate for the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), has gained popularity with voters desperate for tough policies both on corruption and Boko Haram.

Amid pressure from the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria's electoral commission announced a six week postponement to the Feb. 14 election, to allow the army to tackle the security situation in the northeast so voting could go ahead there.

Ernst Hogendoorn, Crisis Group's Africa deputy programme director, said the government appeared to have engineered the delay in the hope the APC would slip up or the military could boost Jonathan by defeating Boko Haram.

"Boko Haram has certainly suffered a strategic setback ... Clearly this improves Goodluck Jonathan's chances somewhat," said Hogendoorn. "The question is do any of these forces have the ability to maintain this tempo, particularly the Chadians and to a lesser degree the Nigerians?"

With Chad already squeezed by a slump in the price of oil, its main export, the government says it can only sustain the offensive in Nigeria for a short time, diplomats say.

Buhari, however, has already criticised Jonathan for relying on Chad to push back Boko Haram, saying his government would tackle the problem alone. Many in the military and the government are keen to limit foreign involvement on Nigerian soil, diplomats say.

When Chadian forces last month entered the town of Dikwa, they were told to leave by Nigeria's military, which said it was planning air strikes, Bermondoa said.

After Nigeria's army retook Baga last month, Army Chief Major General Kenneth Minimah said his soldiers would recapture a handful of remaining towns before the elections, listing Dikwa as one of them. “The war is almost ended," he said.

TENSIONS HAMPER REGIONAL FORCE

Boko Haram was long regarded by neighbouring countries as an internal Nigerian problem, but attacks in Cameroon and Niger last year prompted the regional response. Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Benin and Cameroon agreed in May to join forces against the militants.

Since then, however, distrust and misunderstandings have stymied preparations for the force, due to take effect by the end of this month. Nigeria initially sent low-level representatives to planning meetings, angering its allies.

Cooperation between Cameroon and Nigeria has been dogged by long-running border tensions, while Niger accused Nigerian troops of cowardice.

"Nigeria must get involved and honour its promise of providing between 2,500 and 3,000 to the multinational force," said Cameroon's defence spokesman Colonel Didier Badjeck.

Cameroon has stepped up its activities since July, when Boko Haram attacked Kolotafa, the hometown of its deputy prime minister, killing dozens and kidnapping his wife.

The government has boosted its security forces in northern Cameroon from 700 to around 7,000.

"We have to do whatever it takes to make sure the sect does not occupy any town in Cameroon," said Colonel Joseph Nouma, in charge of Operation Alpha, the mission against Boko Haram.

However, Nouma said he has orders not to enter Nigeria, and Cameroon has denied Nigerian troops the right to pursue insurgents into Cameroon.

Along its 400 km (250 miles) border with Nigeria, Cameroon has created 14 new bases, with heavy artillery batteries. It has also deployed surveillance drones, a senior intelligence officer said.

Another senior Cameroon military figure said they were attempting to choke off Boko Haram's revenues, including the trade in fuel with Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

"All of this looks to be paying off," the officer said, with no incursions since mid-February.

25 February 2015 By Tomi Oladipo BBC Africa security correspondent

Military chiefs from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Benin and Niger are finalising their strategy for a 8,750-strong regional force to tackle the militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

In the last few weeks, the Multinational Joint Task Force has retaken several towns captured by the militants in north-eastern Nigeria. Now, the regional chiefs are preparing for a major ground and air offensive due to start next month - and are meeting in Chad this week to set out the command structure. The force will be led by a Nigerian commander, after which the position will rotate among the members.

Read more

09 February 2015 by defenceWeb

South Africa has not deployed any military assets to assist the Chadian Defence Force in its pursuit of Boko Haram.

Siphiwe Dlamini, head of communications for the Department of Defence, said the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) was “dismayed and distances itself from reports claiming the SA Air Force (SAAF) has provided air cover to the Chadian Defence Force”.

“The reports are speculative, misleading, baseless and without substance. For the record, the SANDF has not deployed any of its personnel or any of its military assets in that area or region,” he said adding all South African military deployments are “sanctioned and authorised in accordance to (sic) strict procedures guided by our Constitution and government”.

The denial follows a call last week by the UN Security Council for central and west African countries to improve regional military co-ordination to more effectively combat Boko Haram militants in northern Nigeria.

Boko Haram has become the main security threat facing Nigeria, Africa's biggest economy and top oil producer, and increasingly threatens neighbouring countries.

The African Union (AU) has authorised a 7 500 force with troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin to fight the Islamist militants.

The Security Council welcomed a meeting held in Cameroon last Thursday where details of the African Union force and its deployment and modus operandi were held. Diplomats have indicated once full details of the force, its composition and rules of engagement are known, the AU is likely to request UN Security Council support for it.

In another development around the ongoing planning and fighting against Boko Haram, France last week sent advisors to the Nigerian border with Niger to help co-ordinate military action by the regional powers which have committed to fighting the Islamist group. Chad has committed 2 500 soldiers to the battle against Boko Haram.

Boko Haram insurgents seek to create an Islamist emirate in northern Nigeria. The group is said to have killed at least 10 000 people last year.

05 February 2015 by defenceWeb (Reuters)

Chad's army said it had killed more than 200 militants from Boko Haram on Tuesday in a battle in the northeastern Nigerian towns of Gambaru and Ngala, which are near the border with Cameroon. Nine Chadian soldiers were killed and 21 others were wounded in a battle with Boko Haram militants in the northeastern Nigerian towns of Gambaru and Ngala, Chadian state television said on Wednesday.Chad has deployed 2,500 troops as part of a regional effort to take on the militant group, which has been fighting for five years to create an Islamist emirate in northern Nigeria. An estimated 10,000 people died in the region last year. Chad's army also destroyed more than a dozen vehicles equipped with heavy weapons in the battle, and 100 motorcycles used by the militants, the army high command said in a statement on Wednesday. There was no independent confirmation of its claim.

Read more

3 February 2015 BBC Africa

Chadian troops have entered Nigeria to join the battle against militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

Armoured vehicles and infantry crossed a bridge from Cameroon following air strikes and mortar attacks on Boko Haram positions, officials say. Fighting focused on the key north-eastern town of Gamboru, Nigerian security spokesman Mike Omeri said. Chad's deepening involvement shows how the conflict with Boko Haram is taking a regional dimension. Last week, Chadian troops reportedly moved into Malumfatori, a Nigerian town which lies near the borders of Chad and Niger, after a ground and air assault against the militants.

Read more

16 January 2015 BBC Africa

Cameroon says Chad will send a large contingent of troops to help it fight incursions from the Nigeria-based militant Islamist group, Boko Haram.

The announcement came a day after Chad said it would "actively support" its neighbour against the militants.

No detail was given about how many troops would be sent, or when.

On Tuesday, Cameroon said it had killed 143 Boko Haram militants who attacked one of its army bases at Kolofata near the Nigerian border.

It said one soldier had died during the assault, which led to a gun battle lasting five hours.

It was the first major attack on Cameroon since Boko Haram threatened the country's leader in a video posted online earlier this month.

The militant Islamist group has seized control of towns and villages in north-east Nigeria in a six-year insurgency.

President visits

A French-led initiative has called for Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad to contribute 700 troops each to a multinational force against Boko Haram, but no country has taken steps to implement the plan.

Niger and Cameroon have both criticised Nigeria for failing to do more to confront Boko Haram.

Chad previously had some troops based in Baga, a Nigerian town seized by Boko Haram earlier this month, but they had been withdrawn before the attack.

Correspondents say Nigerian politicians appear more focused on campaigning for elections next month than on security issues, and senior figures rarely comment on the insurgency in the north-east.

On Thursday, President Goodluck Jonathan made an unannounced visit to the area, his first for nearly two years.

He told displaced people in the biggest city of Borno state, Maiduguri, that he was "working very hard" to help them return to their homes.

Mr Jonathan's visit came as the human rights group Amnesty International released satellite images of towns attacked by Boko Haram, suggesting widespread destruction and a high death toll.

The pictures showed about 3,700 structures damaged or destroyed in Baga and neighbouring Doron Baga last week, the rights group said.

Amnesty's before-and-after satellite images were taken on 2 and 7 January.

Nigeria's government has disputed reports that as many as 2,000 people were killed in and around Baga, putting the number of dead at no more than 150.

08 September 2014 by defenceWeb

The Royal Air Force (RAF) has deployed three Tornado GR.4 combat aircraft to Chad to help search for missing Nigerian schoolgirls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram militants in April.

The aircraft, from II Army Cooperation Squadron, departed Norfolk in late August, according to IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly. The Tornados are operating from N’Djamena International Airport in Chad, where they are hosted by the French military detachment there, reports Air Forces Daily.

The Royal Air Force announced in late August it would deploy Tornados to fly reconnaissance missions over northeast Nigeria to track Boko Haram movement in an effort to find the girls. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The UK continues to work with the US, France, Nigeria, its neighbours and international partners to provide advice and assistance to the Nigerian government. Together with our allies, we have provided continuous surveillance support to the Nigerian authorities, including satellite imagery and we are still in discussion with partners on the deployment of further surveillance capability."

It is believed that the Tornados will use Rafael Litening III targeting pods or Goodrich Raptor photographic reconnaissance pods to gather intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data.

The RAF on May 18 sent a Sentinel R1 surveillance aircraft to Accra, Ghana, to assist with the search. The Sentinel R1 aircraft is a modified Bombardier Global Express business jet fitted with a synthetic aperture radar and ground moving target indicator (GMTI). The RAF has five Sentinels in service.

Other nations have also contributed assets to help find the schoolgirls with the United States in May sending MC-12W Liberty and unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk aircraft to search for the girls. The unmanned aerial vehicle and Air Force personnel were deployed to neighbouring Chad.

More than 200 of the schoolgirls kidnapped from a boarding school in Chibok on April 14 are still missing despite Nigerian and international efforts to find them. Around 50 of the girls escaped from their abductors.

11/04/2014 Sources : EMA

Depuis le 14 mars 2014, une quarantaine de militaires du groupement aérien d’appui aux opérations (GAAO) sont arrivés sur la Base aérienne de N’Djaména pour préparer l’installation du futur poste de commandant des opérations dans la BSS.

Basés à Bordeaux, ces militaires sont des spécialistes du bâtiment et de l’infrastructure opérationnelle. Ils ont pour mission d’appuyer le déploiement des forces aériennes et de participer au soutien du stationnement des forces, en particulier sur les théâtres d’opérations. Dans cette optique, ils sont déployés sur N’Djaména pour préparer à la fois les structures qui permettront d’accueillir le nouveau dispositif de commandement de la bande sahélo-saharienne et pour mettre en place un abri avion, des bungalows et des tentes.

Les militaires de la force Épervier assurent deux missions permanentes : ils apportent un soutien aux forces armées et de sécurité (FADS) tchadiennes, conformément à l’accord de coopération technique signé entre la France et le Tchad et sont en mesure de garantir, si nécessaire, la sécurité des ressortissants français résidant au Tchad.

Depuis le 31 mars, la force Epervier est sous le contrôle opérationnel de la force Serval dans le cadre de la régionalisation des opérations dans la bande sahélo-saharienne. D’autres étapes marqueront cette montée en puissance, dont le terme sera marqué par le transfert du poste de commandement unique des opérations de Bamako vers N’Djamena.

2014-04-09  xinhua

Le ministre tchadien de la Défense Benaindo Tatola est arrivé mardi à Bangui dans le cadre du retrait du contingent tchadien de la Mission internationale de soutien à la Centrafrique sous conduite africaine (MISCA), entamé vendredi dernier.

Le gouvernement tchadien a décidé de retirer ses soldats en réaction, selon N'Djamena, à une campagne d'opinion consistant à ternir l'image des soldats tchadiens.

Un premier groupe de 200 soldats a quitté vendredi la Centrafrique, où le Tchad déploie environ 850 hommes dans le cadre de la MISCA, qui compte au total 6.000 hommes.

Cette force africaine déployée depuis le 19 décembre 2013 a pour tâche d'aider à restaurer la paix et la sécurité en Centrafrique, pays en proie à des troubles depuis décembre 2012.

Le ministre tchadien de la Défense a rencontré le chef de la MISCA, le général congolais Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko, et son chef d'état-major, son homologue camerounais Martin Tumenta Chomu pour des échanges visant à "discuter des modalités du retrait de tous les soldats (tchadiens) de province", a fait savoir une source de la MISCA.

Les soldats tchadiens sont accusés de complicité avec les ex- Séléka qui ont renversé François Bozizé le 24 mars 2013 et ont brillé par des pillages et des exactions à l'égard de la population.

De nouvelles accusations sont portées contre eux, à propos de la mise à sac de leur caserne de Kaga-Bandoro (Nord).

"Ils ont tout emporté, les biens de l'Etat et ceux des particuliers, gardés là par mesure de sécurité", a confié à Xinhua une source de la municipalité jointe au téléphone.

Des responsables de la MISCA contactés hésitent à se prononcer et se contentent d'assimiler les auteurs des actes déclarés à des éléments incontrôlés.

D'après les témoignages recueillis par Xinhua, le bataillon tchadien de Batangafo (ouest) a mis un terme à ses patrouilles dans cette ville.

Une partie du contingent tchadien de Bossangoa a commencé à se retirer de la ville, en attendant l'évacuation totale des autres, ont confié à Xinhua des sources concordantes.

3 avril, 2014 – BBC Afrique

Le Tchad va retirer ses gardiens de la paix de la mission l’Union africaine en République Centrafricaine pour protester contre les allégations selon lesquelles ils ont aidé les rebelles.

Une déclaration du ministre tchadien des Affaires étrangères déplore que ses troupes aient été critiquées malgré leurs sacrifices.

L'annonce a été faite en marge du sommet entre l'Union européenne et l'Afrique qui se tenait ce mercredi et ce jeudi à Bruxelles.

Le Tchad a contribué à hauteur de 850 soldats sur le contingent total des 6 000 hommes de la Misca.

Les forces tchadiennes ont été accusées de soutenir les rebelles musulmans de la Seleka qui avaient chassé du pouvoir le gouvernement centrafricain l’an passé après une vague de violences religieuses.

La Seleka, a pris le pouvoir en mars 2013. Mais leur leader a démissionné en janvier dernier suite à une spirale d’attaques et de contre-attaques entre les groupes musulmans et chrétiens.

Récemment, des milliers de musulmans, confession minoritaire en République Centrafricaine, ont fui vers les Tchad et Cameroun voisin après avoir été visés par les milices chrétiennes.

«Campagne gratuite et malveillante»

Le communiqué tchadien indique que les forces de ce pays ont été victimes de « d’une campagne gratuite et malveillante tendant à leur faire porter la responsabilité de tous les maux dont souffre la RCA. »

Mais le retrait n’est pas encore effectif : « Les modalités pratiques de ce retrait seront arrêtées en commun accord entre le Tchad et l’Union africaine. En attendant, le Tchad assumera sans faille sa mission de paix dans les zones relevant de sa responsabilité en République centrafricaine. »

Le président déchu de la RCA, François Bozizé, a avoué l’an passé à la BBC que les forces tchadiennes l’ont aidé à prendre le pouvoir, ce que le Tchad a nié.