France has started the withdrawal of its military from Chad with the departure of two warplanes that were based in the capital N'Djamena, the French army said, two weeks after Chad said it was ending its defence cooperation pact with Paris, APA reports citing Reuters.
Terms and conditions of the withdrawal and whether any French troops will remain in the central African country altogether have yet be to agreed, but on Tuesday the first Mirage warplanes returned to their base in eastern France.
"It marks the beginning of the return of French equipment stationed in N'Djamena," Army spokesperson Colonel Guillaume Vernet said after two Mirage fighter jets left Chad.