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During last week’s crisis in Chad, French forces evacuated French and foreign nationals from embattled N’djamena. By February 8, 1,389 people had been transfered, at their request, from N’djamena to Libreville, Gabon, via French military transports. Among them were 537 French nationals and 852 people from other nationalities, including 69 Americans. Led by the crisis cell of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Quai d’Orsay), the operation was coordinated on the ground by the French armed forces.

New reports have emerged on the conditions in which the evacuation of American citizens by French troops was carried out. You can read a dramatic description of the evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in N’djamena on the State Department’s blog. You can also find videos of the evacuation of a U.S. NGO (from the center of Ndjamena, and then by C-130 to Libreville) posted YouTube (see below).

The French Embassy in Washington would like to thank the U.S. citizens who have called or e-mailed to show their gratitude. Among the messages we have received are the following:

“On behalf of a missionary friend of mine in Chad, thank you for the gracious and even loving assistance that French troops have provided to Americans and other ex-pats being evacuated in Chad. (…) there are numbers of Americans who have a fresh appreciation for French friendship and military boldness. ” —Rev. McClain, NY

“Today, the French military in Chad helped to evacuate my friend and her team from a hotel in the capital of Chad to a military base. (…) I wanted someone to know that I and many other people are very grateful to those who helped [my friend] and others like her to safety. ” —Brenda , OR

Related article: "Evacuation: A Narrow Escape in Chad" from the U.S. Department of State official blog.

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