Chadian Conflicts (1966 - )

The political history of Chad has been defined by ethno-religious conflict following independence from France in 1960, particularly between the Islamic north and the Christian and animist south. Although prevalent during the colonial era, this became particularly apparent under Tombalbaye during his 15-year rule (1960-1975), which saw mass discrimination against the Muslim northern and central regions. In 1966, the Islamist National Liberation Front on Chad (FROLINAT) was formed, but the movement was defined by factionalism and in-fighting, often encouraged by Libyan government policies, until the civil war ended in 1993. In 1975 Tombalbaye was killed during a coup, and the country reverted to military rule. Constant pressure from the various FROLINAT factions, however, caused then-ruler General Felix Malloum to align himself with Hissene Habre, a rebel leader formerly-aligned with FROLINAT, but then-commander of the Forces Armées du Nord (FAN). In 1978, Libyan troops also occupied the Aouzou Strip (See Libyan-Chadian Conflict). Meanwhile, Habre’s FROLINAT competitor, Goukouni Oueddei, gathered the majority of the northern insurgent factions, and the ensuing civil war between 11 factions eroded the capabilities of the state. In 1979, the Lagos Accords created a unity government (GUNT) that briefly convened the factions, but infighting between Habre and Goukouni’s forces broke out soon after.

Habre finally gained control of N’Djamena in 1982, but faced continuing insurgent pressure from GUNT. This changed in the mid-1980s when all forces in Chad aligned themselves against the Libyan occupation and expelled them from Chad. Infighting in Habre’s regime, meanwhile, saw the defection of General Idriss Deby to Sudan, where he launched a Zaghawa campaign against the President and took the capital in December 1990 with Libyan-backing. Deby was announced President in early 1991, and to ease fighting he announced elections, which he won, in 1996. A number of short-lived peace deals were signed with several rebel factions in 1997, but fighting continued. In 2003, an influx of over 200,000 refugees from Darfur complicated the matter further, and in 2005 Chad declared war on Sudan, which was backing the Chadian rebel group, Rally for Democracy and Liberty. A series of battles ensued across Chad culminating in the Battle of N’Djamena in 2008. The latest war ended in 2010 with a peace accord signed between Sudan and Chad.

In 2021, the FACT (Front pour l’Alternance et la Concorde au Tchad: Front for Change and Concord in Chad) attacked the Chadian military on the eve of presidential elections. President Idriss Déby was killed in the attack, and the army formed a Transitional Military Council (TMC).