s on targets in northern Chad on Sunday in support of local troops trying to repel a convoy of unidentified fighters that had crossed the border from Libya, a statement by the French military said.French armed forces said on Monday that a Mirage 2000 patrol intervened jointly with the Chadian army in northern Chad to strike a column of 40 pickups of an gang from Libya infiltrating deep into Chadian territory.
"This intervention at the request of Chadian authorities helped hinder this hostile advance and disperse the column." The statement adds.
The statement did not specify who was behind the incursion, but it was the first time French forces have hit targets in support of Chadian troops since a fledgling rebel movement based in southern Libya increased its activities last year.
Press sources reported that the convoy could be from the rebel movement, the Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (CCMSR), which was founded in 2016 and has fought Chadian forces several times near the Libyan border since August.
Libya itself is suffering from infiltrating Chadian rebels who work as mercenary fighters for different gangs, especially those under the command of the self-styled army of Khalifa Haftar
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all..., and have been carrying out operations in different areas in southern Libya.