France flies 2 fighter jets from Chad to signal start of military withdrawal

FILE - A Mirage 2000 aircraft of the French Air Force takes off from an airbase in N'Djamena, Chad, on Dec. 22, 2018. Two French Mirage fighter jets left Chad for good on Dec. 10, 2024, as part of the former colonial power's withdrawal from the African nation. Protesters march during an anti-France demonstration in N'djamena, Chad, on Dec. 6, 2024.

France flew out the two Mirage fighter jets it had stationed in Chad on Tuesday, signaling the beginning of the withdrawal of its military forces from the former French colony in Central Africa that last month broke off its defense cooperation agreement with Paris.