Chad's military junta threatens to expel the US from the strategic Adji Kossei air base

April 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The military junta of Chad has threatened the United States with formally requesting the withdrawal of its troops from the strategic military base of Adji Kossei, in the heart of the country's capital, N'Djamena, considering that the North American forces have not provided “appropriate explanations.” that justify their presence there,” according to a letter of recommendation from the Chadian Air Force.

The letter, collected by Tchad One and signed by the head of the Air Force, General Idriss Ahmed, justifies this request by the lack of a legal framework that regulates the presence of the US special forces, active in the country for five years. .

Official North American sources have confirmed to the US network CNN that this letter is already in the hands of the US Defense Attaché and they estimate that it would affect a little less than a hundred US soldiers deployed at the base. Without being explicitly a direct withdrawal order, North American sources interpret it in principle as such, but they perceive between the lines that the Chadian authorities are using this threat as a negotiation tool to force a new stay agreement.

These suspicions have been confirmed by sources from the Chadian Ministry of Defense to Tchad One, who frame the letter in a strategy to negotiate “a new agreement more beneficial to their interests” with the ultimate goal of “moving to a basic rental system, similar to that which exists in the North American deployment in Djibouti”, where the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) operates.

This decision takes place less than a month before the presidential elections on May 6, in which the prime minister and former opposition leader, Succès Masra, has serious chances of victory against the current president, Mahamat Idriss Déby.

In any case, the letter has been sent approximately a month after Niger, another key ally in the region, suspended its security agreement with the United States, amid a series of coups that have seen the military junta that who govern the Sahel have been bringing closer positions with Russia as they have distanced themselves from the Western powers.