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20-601: Opération Tacaud was triggered by the capture of Faya-Largeau by the FROLINAT on 17 February 1978, opening the road to N'Djamena , capital of Chad. France decided to send in troops to support the Chadian army, as had been previously done with Opération Bison a few years before. Intervention was carried out by entirely professional units of the French Army, belonging to the 9th Marine Infantry Brigade . The 3rd RIMa

40-464: A FROLINAT group. On 18 and 19 May, the Chadian 1st Infantry regiment had to rescue Chadian gendarmes surrounded by rebels in Ati . A squadron of the 1er REC tried to join the fight from Mussoro , but was unable to reach the battle. The 3rd company of the 3rd RIMa also joined in, from Mongo; as they approached Ati, the marsouins found themselves under heavy fire and had to call in air support, provided by

60-807: A hot desert climate typical of the Borkou Region lying on the heart of the Sahara Desert . Average maximum temperatures in Faya-Largeau are consistently over 39 °C (102.2 °F) from April to September, reaching a maximum of 42.1 °C (107.8 °F) in June. The coolest months are December and January with an average maximum temperature of 26.4 °C (79.5 °F). Annual precipitation averages only 11.7 millimetres (0.46 in) and generally only occurs from June to September, although some years have no rainfall at all. The sunshine duration

80-502: A depth of about 100 kilometers into Chad's Borkou , Ennedi Ouest , Ennedi Est , and Tibesti regions for an area of 114,000 km . It is named after the small town and oasis of Aouzou . The strip played a significant role in the Chadian–Libyan War when it was claimed by Libya. The Aouzou strip was defined for the first time in the discussions between France and Italy after World War I , in relation to an award to Italy for

100-533: A provision under which Italy would receive the Aouzou strip, which was to be added to Libya. France's other motivations in concluding this agreement with Italy were to settle the status of the Italian Tunisian community in its protectorate of the country , to remove irredentist Italian claims to Nice , and to prevent Italy from growing closer to Nazi Germany by keeping it closely aligned with France and

120-424: Is one of the highest found in the world with some 3,800 hours of bright sunshine annually, and every month receives an average sunshine duration above 290 hours. Aouzou Strip The Aouzou Strip ( / ˈ aʊ z uː / ; Arabic : قطاع أوزو , romanized :  Qiṭāʿ Awzū , French : Bande d'Aozou ) is a strip of land in northern Chad that lies along the border with Libya , extending south to

140-540: The Aouzou Strip in 1975, but was retaken by Hissène Habré 's forces in 1980. Libya recaptured Faya-Largeau in 1983, but retreated in 1987 during the so-called Toyota War . Due to the considerable underground water supply in the town, the main economic activities are agriculture and natron mining. The town is serviced by Faya-Largeau Airport ( IATA : FYT , ICAO : FTTY ) with a paved runway, used almost exclusively by military airplanes. Faya-Largeau has

160-854: The International Court of Justice (ICJ). Finally, a February 1994 ICJ decision found (by a majority of 16 to 1) in favour of Chad's sovereignty over the Borderlands and the Aouzou Strip, and ended the Libyan claim. The United Nations Security Council established the United Nations Aouzou Strip Observer Group in Resolution 915 (May 1994) to monitor the withdrawal of Libyan troops, and terminated it in Resolution 926 (June 1994), when

180-575: The 1st REC, supported by a battery of the 11th RAMa and the Jaguars, stormed the city. FROLINAT opened fire with small arm and Strela 2 fire, managing to shoot down one of the Jaguars with machine gun fire. Fighting lasted for 6 hours before the FROLINAT was routed. After the battle of Jeddah, it took then months for the FROLINAT to reconstitute a fighting force capable of attacking a town. On 5 March 1979, it attacked and occupied Abéché . The 3rd RIMa,

200-554: The Jaguars. On 19, reinforcements of the REC arrived. The next day, the Jaguars softened FROLINAT positions, which were them stormed and taken. The rebels disengaged and regrouped in Jeddah , 45 km North of Ati, from where they threatened the town. The French decided to raid the rebels in Jeddah to prevent another attack on Ati. On 31 May, two companies of the 3rd RIMa and a squadron of

220-746: The Marine Infantry were present for military counselling to the Chadian Army. On 20 April, these troops received reinforcements with the first company of the 1st REC , equipped with Panhard AML armoured cars; one command platoon; and one mechanised platoon under captain Yvanoff. The 2nd squadron of the RIMC followed shortly thereafter. The first clashes occurred in Salal , where the French routed

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240-570: The RIMC and the 11th RAMa had to intervene again. Opération Tacaud lost 18 killed and two downed Jaguars to the French. Professional units rotated in Chad until May 1980. The experience gathered during the operation started the trend of professionalisation of the Army. Faya-Largeau Faya-Largeau (also known as Faya , Arabic : فايا لارجو or فايا ) is the largest city in northern Chad and

260-735: The United Kingdom (the Stresa Front ). This policy failed two years later when Italy drifted into the German orbit by concluding the Pact of Steel with Nazi Germany, leading to the "instruments of ratification" of the Mussolini-Laval Treaty never being exchanged with France. Despite this, the new border was conventionally assumed to be the southern boundary of Libya until 1955. Claimed to be rich in uranium deposits,

280-533: The area was the cause of dispute of Chad with Libya, which led to a war between the two countries. In 1973, Libya engaged in military operations in the Aouzou Strip to gain access to minerals and to use it as a base of influence in Chadian politics. This ultimately resulted in the Chadian–Libyan conflict . Libya then claimed an area it called the Borderlands which included the Aouzou Strip. Libya argued that

300-568: The first half of 1973. During the so-called Toyota War in 1987, the final stage of the Chadian–Libyan conflict, Chadian forces were able to force the Libyans to temporarily retreat from part of the Strip. A cease-fire between Chad and Libya held from 1987 to 1988, followed by unsuccessful negotiations over the next several years. In 1990, the territorial dispute was referred for adjudication to

320-420: The possession of the strip by Italy. The frontier claimed by the Chadian government was based on a 1955 treaty between France and Libya, which, in turn, referred back to an 1899 agreement between Great Britain and France about "spheres of influence." Despite other differences, this was one position on which all Chadian political parties and factions were able to agree. Libya occupied the Aouzou Strip during

340-587: The territory, as part of the Borderlands, was inhabited by indigenous people who owed vassalage to the Senoussi Order and subsequently to the Ottoman Empire , and that this title had been inherited by Libya. It also supported its claim with an unratified 1935 treaty between France and Italy (the Mussolini - Laval Treaty ), the colonial powers of Chad and Libya, respectively, that confirmed

360-804: The victory in that war. At the Paris Peace Conference, 1919 , the Kingdom of Italy did not receive any of the German colonies, but instead was given the Oltre Giuba from the United Kingdom , and France agreed to give some Saharan territories to Italian Libya . After many discussions during the 1920s, in 1935 the Franco-Italian Agreement was signed between Benito Mussolini and Pierre Laval , which included

380-512: Was sent in its entirety, along with The Navy offered one Breguet Atlantic plane for intelligence gathering, as well as naval commandos who were deployed at N'Djamena International Airport . The Air Force offered eight SEPECAT Jaguar attack planes and a number of Transall aircraft for transport. Furthermore, two units of the 11th Parachute Division , the 2nd REP and the 35th RAP , were put in alert for possible deployment. The French Army already had men deployed in Chad, as personnel of

400-496: Was the capital of the region of Bourkou-Ennedi-Tibesti . It is now in the Borkou Region , which was formed in 2008 from the Borkou Department of the former Bourkou-Ennedi-Tibesti region. Originally called Faya , the town was renamed Largeau after French Colonel Victor Emmanuel Largeau ; upon Chadian independence from France, it assumed the name Faya-Largeau . The town was captured by Libya when Libya annexed

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