Operation Epervier
| Opération Épervier | |||||||
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| Part of the Chadian–Libyan conflict | |||||||
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Opération Épervier (French pronunciation: [ɔpeʁasjɔ̃ epɛʁvje]; English: Operation ) was the codename, from 1986 until 2014, for the ongoing French military presence in Chad.
Opération Épervier began on the night of 13 and 14 February 1986, under the defence agreement between France and Chad, and was prepared during a meeting in N'Djamena between the Chadian President Hissène Habré and the French Defence Minister Paul Quilès. Its goal was to contain the Libyan invasion that had brought the loss of all Chadian territory north of the 16th parallel and was threatening the capital; a new offensive had been started on 10 February by Muammar Gaddafi in the belief that there would be no French reaction.
The French Air Force was the first to strike: on 16 February an air raid on Ouadi Doum badly damaged the Ouadi Doum airbase, a strategic air base in Chad from which Libyan planes could attack N'Djamena and hamper the deployment of the troops. On 17 February 1986, in retaliation for the Ouadi Doum air raid, a LARAF Tu-22B attacked the airport at N'Djamena. The bomber ran into technical problems on its return journey. U.S. reconnaissance planes based in Sudan monitored distress calls sent by the pilot of the Tu-22 that probably crashed before reaching its base at Aouzou (maybe hit by twin-tubes that fired in N'Djamena airport). On 18 February, 200 French Commandos took possession of Camp Dubut, near N'Djamena, which had already been France's headquarters during Opération Manta (1983–1984). The Commandos secured the camp for the mission's air force, that arrived the night of the 18th and was composed of six Mirage F1 and four Jaguar fighter-bombers and a battery of low altitude (anti aircraft) Crotale missiles. To defend the capital and the camp against high altitude air attacks a battery of French Army Air Defense MIM-23 Hawk missiles arrived on 3 March, and shortly afterwards a radar was stationed at Moussoro, defended by 150 French troops. This brought the total number of troops in the country to 900.
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