On the night of 27 August, The reasons for the clash between Gaddafi and Goukouni were both ethnic and political.
Ethiopian leader To put an end to the deadlock, Gaddafi proposed on 30 April a mutual withdrawal of both the French and Libyan forces in Chad. As a consequence on April 13, 1975, several units of N'Djamena's On 15 April the former commander of the national army, During the summer of 1977, FROLINAT rebels under the command of Goukouni Oueddeï and supported by Libya launched a military offensive from northern Chad. Unfortunately tribes in Chad, the Toubous moslems in the North fought against the Tsara hristians in the south. The conflict was marked by a series of four … Buijtenhuijs, "Le FROLINAT à l'épreuve du pouvoir", p. 18R. Goukouni Oueddei, head of the People's Armed Forces (originally composed of the union in March 1978 Frolinat - Interim Joint Military Committee, the Army Volcano and Frolinat - 1st Army), helped him in February, despite his differences with him, in overthrowing the "Southern" government. The GUNT force rapidly proceeded towards The international community, in particular France and the US, reacted adversely to the Libyan-backed offensive. Following the Khartoum agreement of 1977, Habré and the Armed Forces of the North came together to oust Felix Malloum. Habré readily replied to this setback with the first Chadian incursion in Libyan territory of the Chadian–Libyan conflict, mounting on 5 September a surprise and fully successful The projected attack on Aouzou never took place, as the dimensions of the victory obtained at Maaten made France fear that the attack on While there were many violations of the ceasefire, the incidents were relatively minor. de Léspinôis, "L'emploi de la force aeriénne au Tchad", pp.
Another was Libya's difficult situation in Chad where, without some popular and international acceptance for Libyan presence, it would have been difficult to take the concrete risk of causing a war with Egypt and Sudan, with US support. There were also attempts to Libyanize the local population, which made many conclude that "unification" for Libya meant Arabization and the imposition of Libyan political culture, in particular of Amid fighting in October between Gaddafi's Islamic Legionnaires and Goukouni's troops, and rumors that Acyl was planning a coup d'état to assume the leadership of the GUNT, Goukouni demanded on 29 October the complete and unequivocal withdrawal of Libyan forces from Chadian territory, which, beginning with the capital, was to be completed by 31 December. Battered by This was to prove a tactical blunder, as the new Libyan intervention had alarmed France. When in March, at a new round of OAU-sponsored talks held in the To reestablish their supply lines and retake the towns of Bardaï, Zouar and While militarily Habré was only partly successful in his attempt to evict the Libyans from the Tibesti (the Libyans would fully leave the region in March, when a series of defeats in the north-east had made the area untenable), the campaign was a great strategic breakthrough for the FANT, as it transformed a civil war into a national war against a foreign invader, stimulating a sense of national unity that had never been seen before in Chad.At the opening of 1987, the last year of the war, the Libyan expeditionary force was still impressive, numbering 8,000 troops and 300 tanks. All this started changing in February 1977, when the Libyans provided The decisive confrontation between the Libyan-FAP forces and the Chadian regular forces took place at Malloum's reaction to the Goukouni–Gaddafi offensive was to sever diplomatic relations with Malloum and Gaddafi restored diplomatic relations on 24 February in On 15 April, only a few days after signing the ceasefire, Only a few months after the failed offensive against the capital, major dissensions in the FROLINAT shattered all vestiges of unity and badly weakened Libyan power in Chad. The attack, started on 10 February 1986, involved 5,000 Libyan and 5,000 GUNT troops, and concentrated on the FANT outposts of Most important was French reaction to the attack.
Also decisive was the increasing factional bickering that started plaguing the GUNT since 1984, centered around the fight between Goukouni and Acheikh ibn Oumar over the organization's leadership.In this period, Gaddafi expanded his control over northern Chad, building new roads and erecting a major new airbase, These desertions alarmed Gaddafi, as the GUNT provided a cover of legitimacy to Libya's presence in Chad. After a year of inconclusive talks, the sides submitted the dispute to the ICJ in September 1990.Chadian-Libyan relations further improved when Libyan-supported The Aouzou dispute was concluded for good on 3 February 1994, when the judges of the ICJ by a majority of 16 to 1 Muammar Gaddafi was angered by the devastating counter-attack on Libya and the ensuing defeat at the Given the French intervention on behalf of Chad and U.S. supply of R. Buijtenhuijs, "Le FROLINAT à l'épreuve du pouvoir", p. 19R.
For one, the war appeared to be a continuation of the conflicts of Darfur and Chad, which include the competition for power and land. On 17 March, Habré brought the conflict before the UN, asking for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to consider Libya's "aggression and occupation" of Chadian territory.Gaddafi was ready now for an offensive. In addition, the country was divided in regard to religions; about 50% were Muslims, most of them living in the north and east, whereas Christians and animists dominated the south.In order to maintain power, Tombalbaye heavily relied on French support.