Word: largeau
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Dates: during 1983-1983
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...only as "instructors" who would provide "logistical support" and exercise a "dissuasive role." Mitterrand added that if threatened, French troops would "respond and, to defend themselves better, not limit their reply to a defensive one." Implicit was a warning that a Libyan push south from the oasis of Faya-Largeau, which was captured by a joint Libyan and rebel force in early August, would produce a military showdown with France...
...French buildup was applauded by the government of Chadian President Hissene Habre, who had been imploring France to intervene directly. But there seemed little likelihood of imminent conflict between the French and Libyan forces. With some 300 miles of desert separating the Libyans at Faya-Largeau from the French forces at the forward redoubts of Sallal and Arada, it would be a bold venture for either side to make a military move. The Libyans are known to have ground-to-air missiles at Faya-Largeau. The French have conventional antiaircraft missiles, while Chadian troops in the forward positions have been...
...northern Chadian oasis town of Faya-Largeau, which fell to Goukouni's Libyan-supported rebels two weeks ago after a ten-day bombardment by Libyan aircraft, Libya was resupplying its 3,000-man garrison. For their part, the French were busy flying troops, arms and ammunition to their outposts in Abéché, Biltine, Arada and Sallal. The four towns are positioned along the main routes that an invading force from the north would have to use to attack the capital. The advantage of this new "line in the sand" is that it is situated at the limit...
Whatever happens next is not likely to happen quickly. French officials say that the "training" of the Chadian army will take four months. But no matter how long it takes, the French will not be inclined to pull out if Libya continues to reinforce its garrison at Faya-Largeau. At the moment,Habré is powerless to conduct the war as he sees fit. As soon as he is able, however,Habré is determined to see to it that the northern oasis, near which he was born, does not remain in Libyan hands indefinitely. "They can take Faya-Largeau...
...sources put the number of Libyan troops in Chad at 2,500, while Goukouni has perhaps 3,000 men in his ragtag army. But those combined ground forces are backed by aircraft and heavy weapons, including as many as 400 tanks and armored vehicles on the outskirts of Faya-Largeau, which the government of Chad is unable to match. The Libyan air force has a base for its fighters in the Aozou Strip and at least one squadron of Soviet-built Tupolev-22 bombers based at Sabha in central Libya...