The objective of a departure of 1,400 French soldiers from Niger “by December 31” as announced at the end of September by President Emmanuel Macron, “ will be required », Declared General Eric Ozanne, commander of French forces in the Sahel, on Friday in Niamey.
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“ The objective of the presidential announcements of a departure on December 31 will be met », Declared General Ozanne during a joint press conference with Nigerien Colonel Mamane Sani Kiaou, Chief of Staff of the Army. 282 soldiers have already left Niger “ at today’s date », indicated Colonel Mamane Sani Kiaou.
“ Two large convoys, with military vehicles which were in the North zone”, left and “afterwards, there will be a lot of convoys which have started and which will transport containers with non-sensitive equipment inside”, without “armament” or “transmission” equipment », According to General Ozanne. “ Large logistics flows will really begin next week “, he clarified, indicating that 2,500 containers must be transported out of the country. “ It is an outsourced and civilian carrier that takes care of this and it is completely transparent, especially for the populations who will just see trucks with containers of which there are many “, according to him.
On the way to Chad
The French army must evacuate men and equipment mainly by land to Chad and then probably Cameroon, before their repatriation to France. A route of more than 3,000 km, part of which crosses hostile zones where jihadist groups are active in places. N’Djamena is home to the command of French operations in the Sahel with around a thousand French soldiers.
“ Chad is only a transit country, it is not a re-articulation of our Niger system on Chad », indicated General Ozanne. A first convoy of French soldiers left its bases in Niger by road towards Chad and arrived Thursday in N’Djamena, capital of Chad, after ten days of travel.
A “perfectly planned” journey by the Nigerien authorities
The path “ was perfectly planned and prepared by the Nigerien authorities, and the messages sent to the population were perfectly received and heard », assured General Ozanne. “ The disengagement happens in a coordinated way, we have the same objective, we don’t always agree on everything, but we talk to each other, we make arrangements, we find compromises, so it happens in a state of spirit of professionalism and with the objective of finding solutions “, he added.
After months of standoff between Paris and Niamey, the tone is one of appeasement between the military leaders. “ We worked together for years, we asked that they leave so we would like everything to go well, that they can return to Chad in complete safety », assured Colonel Mamane Sani Kiaou. “ From our point of view, everything is going very wellconfirmed the chief of staff of the Nigerien land army. We respect the program. We are therefore pleased to announce that an agreement has been signed by both parties. There is no problem, everything is going very well. »