Not fewer than 1,600 civilians from Chadian Arab tribes were sent to Riyadh to join the front with Yemen.
A secret agreement would have been reached between the Saudis and Chad. It was mid-April, when Chadian President Idriss Deby visited Saudi Arabia during military exercises of the “Gulf Shield”.
It was concluded during the visit of Chadian President Idriss Deby in mid-April in Riyadh. According to the Arabic newspaper Al Quds Al Arabi, the agreement concerns the deployment of Chadian mercenaries in Yemen to compensate for the losses of the Sudanese military.
According to concordant sources, these Chadian fighters are recruited from civilians of Arab tribes in poor and remote areas of Chad. Once killed in battle they are buried on the spot and their families discreetly compensated, without ever having the right to the honours of the soldiers fallen in front of Boko Haram.
“It’s no longer a secret,” says Ahmat Alabo, “Chadians are employed as mercenaries among the Saudis.” This former Chadian minister regrets this deployment in a region where “we have nothing to do”. Chadian activists are denouncing what they call “macabre haggling”.
The Houthis on their side warned the Chadian president against sending his soldiers. They threaten on their chain Al-Massirah to fire ballistic missiles on N’Djamena.
Since November 2015 Chad has sent hundreds of soldiers to participate in the war in Yemen, but the Chadian authorities remain silent on these agreements. In March 2016, requested by RFI, they did not wish to comment.
Chadian general Hassan Saleh Aldjinedi, close to the Sudanese regime, is reported to be in Riyadh and is coordinating the arrival of Chadian forces. Though it was not possible to reach Chadian officials.
