“Congratulations to our valiant defense and security forces,” government spokesman Cherif Mahamat Zene tweeted, describing the rebel forces as “mercenaries coming from Libya.”It was not immediately possible to independently corroborate the claims given the remote location where the fighting took place. In 2019, French armed forces intervened in northern Chad and launched airstrikes at an armed group coming in from Libya. Story continues below advertisementIn 2008, clashes reached the gate of the presidential palace before Chad’s army repelled rebel forces and pursued them eastward toward the Sudanese border. Chad, a former French colony, is home to France’s military Operation Barkhane, which deploys troops across the continent to fight Islamic extremism. Some 330,000 Chadians are internally displaced, the majority in the volatile Lake Chad region where Boko Haram fighters are most active.

Source: Libya Today April 18, 2021 14:48 UTC