Battle of N'Djamena (2008) - French Involvement

French Involvement

At the beginning of the 2008 battle, French soldiers evacuated hundreds of French citizens and other foreigners to Libreville in Gabon, while hundreds more came under French military protection at five assembly points in N'Djamena. This included 103 UN aid workers, from 150 that have left in total. According to the French military, they had evacuated 580 foreign nationals by February 3, leaving 320 to be airlifted on February 4. In total, nearly 1,300 foreigners were evacuated by France during the battle. France also volunteered to evacuate President Déby on February 3, but that offer was rejected.

There was a brief exchange of fire on February 2 between rebels and French soldiers guarding the international airport, which was used by the French to evacuate people, but also housed four Chadian army helicopters. French Mirage F1 fighters conducted reconnaissance flights over rebel positions, but by February 3 all six aircraft operating from N'Djamena were moved to Libreville for safety. On February 4 two Mirage fighters returned and continued reconnaissance flights. Rebels accused these planes of opening fire, but those reports were unconfirmed. France denied taking part in combat during the battle.

In a declaration on February 4, the United Nations Security Council called on all member-states to back the Chadian government. This was interpreted as support for French intervention. The pronouncement was not as strong as France had wanted. The rebels saw the declaration as abuse by France of the UN's potential role in negotiations. On February 5 President Sarkozy said that the French would be ready to intervene militarily if need be. France had provided the Chadian government medical and logistic support and intelligence during the battle. The French newspaper La Croix cited French diplomats and servicemen on February 7, who reported that French officers had coordinated a Chadian attack on a rebel column in Massaguet on February 1, provided information on rebel movements, delivered munitions through Libya, and sent special forces to fight rebels in the capital. The use of special forces was strongly denied by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner the following day.