The Ukrainian An-124-100M transport aircraft was involved in the withdrawal of the French contingent from Chad.

France 24 reported that France has already handed over its first military base.

Chad’s chief of military staff said that the base in Faya-Largeau in the north of the country had been handed over and that he would inform the public about the progress of the withdrawal of French troops from bases in the eastern city of Abéché and the capital N’Djamena.

The French troops, without specifying how many, left in vehicles for the capital N’Djamena, located 780 kilometers to the south.

The Chadian military said that as part of the withdrawal, an An-124 aircraft with 70 tons of cargo took off on Thursday.

French authorities said that military equipment will leave the country by January and will be repatriated through the Cameroonian port of Douala.

The withdrawal of troops began on the eve of parliamentary and local elections to be held in Chad on Sunday.

Chad was a key link in France’s military presence in Africa and its last foothold in the Sahel region after the forced withdrawal of French troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger following a series of military coups.

The military authorities in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have tilted toward Russia in recent years. Chadian leader General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno has been seeking closer ties with Moscow in recent months, but talks on enhanced economic cooperation have not yet yielded concrete results.

French soldiers and fighter jets have been in Chad almost continuously since the country’s independence in 1960, helping to train the Chadian military.

Last month, Chad abruptly ended military cooperation with France, its former colonial power.

The French army had about 1,000 troops in the country.