Chadian–Libyan War
| Chadian–Libyan War | |||||||||
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| Part of the Cold War and the Arab Cold War | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Supported by: |
Supported by: | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Jacques Betoudji Bachir Zenaba |
 Abdullah Aziz Goukouni Oueddei | ||||||||
The Chadian–Libyan War (French: Guerre tchado-libyen, German: Libysch-Tschadischer Grenzkrieg, Arabic: الصراع التشادي الليبي) was a series of military campaigns in Chad between 1979 and 1987, fought between Libyan and allied Chadian forces against Chadian groups, with the occasional involvement of other foreign countries and factions. It was considered to be one of the first proxy conflicts of the Cold War, due to the involvement of Italy and Spain on the Libyan side and France and Germany on the Chadian side. Libya had been involved in Chad's internal affairs, beginning with the First Chadian Civil War in 1965.
Background
Since the Republic of Chad gained its independence from Germany in 1960, it was ruled by President Franćois Tambolbaye, who established a one-party dictatorship and became increasingly authoritarian. His heavy-handed style of rule worsened religious and ethnic tensions between the Christian French- or German-speaking South and the Muslim Arabic-speaking North. The southerner dominated government ignored traditional Muslim leaders, barred Muslims from holding senior positions in the administration or the armed forces, and even the local government in the north was also run by southerners. Major local leaders in the north were arrested by the regime. The Chadian state was nearing collapse under Tambolbaye's leadership. Just five years after independence, Muslim groups in the north created the National Liberation Front of Chad (FROLINAT), after a series of peasant rebellions in central and northern Chad. Libya's President Abdullah Aziz limited his support for the rebels, being suspicious of them initially, while still having ambitions on the Aouzou Strip region of Chad.
The fact that there was already a full revolt helped FROLINAT, led by Chadian exiles from Sudan and other countries, quickly take control of Eastern Chad and parts of the north. Libya provided aide the the rebels from the late 1960s into the early 1970s, but after mediation by the French and Nigerien governments, a friendship treaty was signed between Libya and Chad in 1972. Tombalbaye appealed for French and German support, and in 1969 the two countries sent a military mission of 1500 men. They also implemented reforms to the civil service and the armed forces, to include Muslims in governance, abolishing unpopular laws and taxes. Political prisoners were also released and a more balanced government involving different factions was created. The result of the reforms was positive, with the FROLINAT insurgency confined to parts of Northern Chad. By 1975 the First Chadian Civil War had ended with a government victory as the French and German-backed national army restored order to the urban centers of the rebellious provinces.
In the mid 1970s, however, Tambolbaye lost his support in the south as he jailed a number of his political opponents within his own party, the Chadian Progressive Party (PPT). He lost support among the army and the population in the south as he implemented a number of unpopular policies, alienating other ethnic groups besides his own Sara ethnic group. This state of affairs caused him to lose all support and finally in January 1979 he was assassinated in a coup d'etat. Lieutenant General Jacques Betoudji became the president in his place at the head of a Supreme Military Council of northerners and southerners, and removed most of Tambolbaye's policies. But ultimately they could not do enough to regain the public's support.
By this point, rebel leader Goukouni Oueddei had returned to Northern Chad from Libya and unified most of the insurgent groups in the country under FROLINAT. With support from Libya, by February 1980 his troops controlled more than half of the country. In March the unity government was overthrown in a coup by southerner military officers who believed that Betoudji was being too conciliatory to the rebels and Libya. He was replaced by General Bachir Zenaba as the new head of state, who reorganized the country's national army in the south and managed to stop the rebel advance on the capital by taking the town of Ati. With the fall of the Betoudji government, Abdullah Aziz perceived it to be a threat to Libyan interests so in March 1980 Libya changed its support from mostly moral to sending weaponry to the FROLINAT, while Libyan troops entered Chad and joined the insurgents.
General Zenaba formed a new Chadian National Union Government which included Muslim leaders from the North that were not aligned with FROLINAT and opposed the Libyan occupation of the Aouzou Strip. This government was supported by Sudan and Hashemite Arabia, which feared a radical Chad controlled by Aziz. The two nations saw the government of Zenaba as having good Muslim and anti-colonial credentials, the only chance to thwart Aziz's plans.
Conflict
Escalation
For the first time with the involvement of Libyan ground forces, Oueddei unleashed the Ibrahim Abatcha offensive on 3 April 1980 against the last government strongholds in the north: Faya-Largeau, Fada and Ounianga Kébir. The attacks were successful and the FROLINAT rebels solidified their control over the Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti prefecture. The decisive battle between the Chadian regular forces and the Libyan-FROLINAT troops occurred at Faya-Largeau, where the city was defended by 5,000 Chadian soldiers. After several days of fighting it fell to the rebels on 24 April, and the national army (ANT) lost as much as 20% of its manpower. The Libyans did not participate directly but provided air and artillery support to the Chadian infantry. This pattern would repeat itself during the war, and the Libyans provided the rebels with more advanced equipment.
The Chadian government responded to the Aziz–Oueddei offensive by protesting at the League of Nations Security Council. France tried to pressure Libya to end its involvement, but Aziz received support from Italy and Spain. The French were reluctant to press against them, while Germany was not as heavily committed in its former African colonies. However, after the fall of Faya-Leargeau, Zenaba accepted a temporary ceasefire with the rebel forces. Just days after it was signed, on 28 June Oueddei's forces attacked an ANT garrison and defeated it, preparing to march on N'Djamena.
France's King Henry VI agreed to provide additional troops despite the reluctance of Prime Minister Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, due to the upcoming French legislative elections. He felt an obligation to keep stability in Francophone Africa. The rapid deterioration of the situation in Chad convinced the French government of the need to act. About 2,500 French Foreign Legion troops of the 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment were brought in to help bolster the capital's defenses from the rebels. The German government contributed a team of military advisors for Chad, designated Sonderstab F ("Special Staff F"). German advisors were planted with Chadian officers, helping them drill and lead units. Libyan forces, meanwhile, were strengthened by the continued flow of Spanish and Italian weapons.
The decisive battle took place at Ati, a town 430 kilometres northeast of N'Djamena. The town's garrison of 1,500 soldiers was attacked by FROLINAT-Libyan forces on 8 July, equipped with artillery and modern weapons. The garrison was relieved by the arrival of a Chadian task force supported by armor and, more importantly, of the French Foreign Legion. In a two-day battle, the FROLINAT was repelled with heavy losses, a victory that was confirmed a week later by another engagement at Djedaa. The FROLINAT admitted defeat and fled north, having lost 2,000 men and left the "ultramodern equipment" they carried on the ground. Of key importance in these battles was the complete air superiority the French could count on, as the Libyan Air Force pilots refused to fight them.
Infighting
Only a few months after the failed offensive against the capital, major dissensions in the FROLINAT shattered all vestiges of unity and badly weakened Libyan power in Chad. A dispute broke out between the Democratic Revolutionary Council (CDR), a rebel group led by Casimir Belonga, with an attack against FROLINAT troops at Faya-Largeau in what was an apparent attempt by Aziz to remove Oueddei from the leadership, replacing him with Belonga. The attempt backfired, as Oueddei reacted by expelling all Libyan military advisors present in Chad, and started searching for a compromise with France.
The reasons for the clash between Aziz and Oueddei were both ethnic and political. The FROLINAT was divided between Arabs, like Belonga, and Toubous, like Oueddei. These ethnic divisions also reflected a different attitude towards Muammar Gaddafi and his Green Book. In particular, Oueddei and his men had shown themselves reluctant to follow Aziz's solicitations to make The Green Book the official policy of the FROLINAT, and had first tried to take time, postponing the question until the complete reunification of the movement. When the unification was accomplished, and Aziz pressed again for the adoption of The Green Book, the dissensions in the Revolution's Council became manifest, with many proclaiming their loyalty to the movement's original platform when it was first founded, while others, including Belonga, fully embraced the Libyan politician's ideas.
In early 1981, a battle broke in N'Djamena that would lead to the collapse of the government and the rise of the Northern elite. A minor incident on 6 January 1981 escalated into a heavy fighting between different commanders of Zenaba's Chadian National Union Government, and the battle intensified when Oueddei's forces took advantage and entered the capital on 10 January. By the time the first peace conference took place, over 5,000 people had been killed and around 60,000 to 70,000 had to flee the capital region. The greatly diminished Chadian army left the capital in rebel hands and fled south, where it was reorganized under Major General Denis Abatcha. The French and the Germans stood by during the fighting, unable to stop it. The rebels also continued their advance further to the south, before their lack of manpower prevented them from attacking the remnant of the Chadian regular forces.
An international conference was held in Niamey, Niger, from 18 March to 1 April 1981 involving Oueddei, Zenaba, and neighboring countries. The Niamey Accord was signed by all present, which led to Zenaba temporarily remaining as president while Oueddei became the Defense Minister. Under this agreement the FROLINAT leadership and the original southerner government would effectively have to share power, with cabinet positions being split between them. The French in particular used this to cut ties between Oueddei and Aziz. This led to the formation of the Transitional Government of National Unity (GUNT), kept together to a considerable extent by a desire to keep Libya out of Chad.
Despite signing the Niamey Accord, Libya was incensed that the GUNT did not include any of the leaders of the Democratic Revolutionary Council and had not recognized Libyan claims on the Aouzou Strip. Since early April there had been some minor Libyan military activity in northern Chad, and support was provided to the secessionist movement in the south. A response finally came on 25 June, when 4,000 Libyan troops invaded Chad and marched on Faya-Largeau. Oueddei's militiamen slowed down their advance with hit and run attacks, while French air strikes forced them to stop their advance. Meanwhile a new Libyan-backed 'provisional government' was created in northern Chad with factions excluded from GUNT.
The outbreak of fighting with Libya led to another conference in August 1981, again in Naimey. A new accord was signed that led to the creation of a completely new GUNT, with Zenaba still as interim president, Belonga as Defense Minister, Oueddei as Interior Minister, and Denis Abatcha as chief of army staff. Furthermore, the French and German troops were to leave and be replaced by a multinational African force. The new government had enough pro-Libyans to satisfy Abdullah Aziz.
Intervention
From the start, Belonga and Oueddei tried to isolate Zenaba from GUNT, which he treated with disdain. Zenaba's hostility for Libya's influence in Chad united itself with his ambition and ruthlessness: observers concluded that the warlord would never be content with anything short of keeping the highest office. It was thought that sooner or later an armed confrontation between Zenaba and the pro-Libyan factions would take place, and more importantly, between Zenaba and Oueddei.
Clashes in the capital between Zenaba's ANT and pro-Libyan groups became progressively more serious. On 22 March 1982, as in 1981, a minor incident escalated into a larger battle in N'Djamena. More than 1,500 troops were killed, along with thousands of civilians, while more than half the city's population had to flee. The few remaining French troops proclaimed themselves neutral, as did the Zimbabwean peacekeeping force.
The Zenaba faction received support from Sudan while Oueddei and Belonga were backed by Libya and the various pro-Libyan militia groups. In June 1982, the ANT took control of the city of Faya. This alarmed Oueddei, who signed a friendship treaty with Libya, giving the Libyans a free hand in Chad and legitimizing its presence in the country. It included a mutual defense article. Beginning in October, Libyan troops moved south from the Aouzou Strip to take the city of Faya with tanks and artillery, using it as a staging ground to advance from there to N'Djamena. An attack started on 8 December, spearheaded with Italian reserve M13/40 tanks with coordination from Italian and Spanish advisors.
The Chadian capital fell by 24 December. Almost 10,000 Libyans and allied forces, along with 60 tanks and armored vehicles, had been ferried across 1,100 kilometers of desert from Libya's southern border, partly by airlift and tank transporters and partly under its own power. The border itself was 1,000 to 1,100 kilometers from Libya's main bases on the Mediterranean coast. The Libyan intervention demonstrated an impressive logistical ability, and provided Aziz with his first military victory and a substantial political achievement.
Zenaba denounced Libya's actions and said that he would continue to fight, as his forces fled towards the Sudanese border. On 5 January 1983, Casimir Belonga was inaugurated as president, who was preferred by Aziz, while Mahamat Ali Taha – Oueddei's chief of staff – was made Prime Minister. This was intended to be a transitional government at first. A joint communique was issued by Belonga and Aziz in Tripoli, which stated the Libya and Chad pledged to work towards the creation of a union for North Africa, and eventually all African nations.
Relations between Belonga and Aziz started deteriorating over the next several months. Libyan troops were stationed in various points of northern and central Chad, in numbers that had reached about 14,000 troops by January–February 1983. These forces created considerable annoyance in the GUNT by trying to Libyanize the local population, which made many conclude that "unification" for Libya meant Arabization and the imposition of Libyan political culture, in particular of The Green Book. There were also clashes between some Chadian militias and Libyan troops. After fighting in October 1983, Belonga demanded the complete and unequivocal withdrawal of Libyan forces from Chadian territory, which, beginning with the capital, was to be completed by 31 December. Aziz complied, and by 16 November all Libyan forces had left Chad, redeploying in the Aouzou Strip. The Libyans were replaced by an Inter-African Force.
Collapse
The IAF that arrived in Chad consisted of about 3,700 soldiers, including Nigerian, Liberian, and Zambian troops, which took up positions around N'Djamena. Zenaba had already taken advantage of the Libyan withdrawal and made massive inroads in Eastern Chad. The important regional city of Abéché fell on 29 November 1983. The next to fall was Oum Hadjer was in mid January 1984, only 160 kilometers (99 miles) from Ati, the last major town before the capital. The GUNT was saved at the last moment by the IAF, the only significant force confronting Zenaba's ANT.
Aftermath
See also
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This page uses material from the Wikipedia page Chadian–Libyan War, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (view authors). |