The Toyota War 1987

The Libyan claim to the Chadian territory of the Aouzou Strip has a complex history dating to the colonial era and treaties that were made in the diplomatic interests of the occupying powers with hardly any consideration of the local situation. Independent Chad and Libya, however, inherited the border question. Ethnic divisions within Chad and the civil wars rival militias fought in order to gain control of the country certainly offered Libya, under the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi, a means of gaining the Aouzou Strip by taking sides. In early 1986, Libya was allied with the People’s Armed Forces (FAP) militia led by Goukouni Oueddei and their combined forces attempted to invade southern Chad to overthrow the nominal government of Hissene Habre who led the Chadian National Armed Forces (FANT) militia. Defeat on the battlefield resulted in Goukouni becoming disillusioned with the Libyan alliance and he tried to make peace with Habre. On October 30, 1986, he was shot, wounded, and arrested while in the capital of Libya; the FAP militia he had led then turned on the Libyans driving them out of the Tibesti region for a time until the superior firepower available to the Libyans threatened their defeat. Habre offered assistance from FANT and they welcomed it.

Together, FANT and FAP forced the Libyans out of most of the Tibesti region and the union of the two formerly rival militias changed the nature of the war from one of rival Chadian militias supported by France and Libya, respectively, to one of Chadians with French support at war with Libya. The Chadian military success against Libyans in Tibesti was soon eclipsed by the offensive FANT launched on January 2, 1987. Chadian mobility and firepower (both attributable to the use of some 400 Toyota pickup trucks armed with machine guns or MILAN anti-tank missiles, masterfully employed as cavalry) overwhelmed the Libyan garrison at Fada in a matter of days, utterly destroyed two Libyan forces that attempted to recapture it and took Wadi Doum with an even larger force of Libyan defenders in four hours of battle on March 22nd. The latter victory forced Libya to abandon central Chad and withdraw to the Aouzou Strip.

Chadian forces began the battle for the Aouzou Strip in late July by clearing Libyan forces on their western flank in Tibesti. A Libyan counter-offensive was smashed and the retreat of the demoralized Libyan troops, under Chadian pressure, turned into a rout. The town of Aouzou was captured on August 8th. A couple of Libyan counter-attacks launched a few days later were soundly defeated. Libyan forces kept trying and, after most of the Chadian forces had been withdrawn for the next offensive, the Libyans succeeded in recovering Aouzou on August 28th. The next Chadian offensive was to be a raid of the airbase at Maatan as-Sarrah, 200km inside Libya. On September 5th the Chadians reached the airbase and destroyed what they could not carry away. The Chadian military successes were so impressive that their French patrons (and air support) became concerned that the Chadians intended to launch an invasion of Libya, beyond the scope of what was intended. France pressured Chad to accept an Organizatio of African Unity organized cease-fire on September 11, 1987.

Notes

[1] There is no consensus on when the war began. For example, Brogan suggests February 1987 (the failed Libyan-FAP invasion); Clodfelter offers January 2, 1987 (the FANT offensive); Correlates of War (CoW) uses November 15, 1986 (when FANT shot down a Libyan plane); Kohn situates the war within the Chadian Civil War 1965-96. The arrest of Goukouni is chosen because this seems to be the catalyst for the defection of FAP.

[2] France did deploy troops and ground attack fighters in Chad. French air support was provided for most of the warfare in Chad.

[3] There is a consensus on 7,500 Libyan battle deaths even though, based on the force levels discussed, it is extremely high. Also, the same figure is found used by Clodfelter (the shortest period) and Brogan (the longest period). Brogan also notes that significant number of Libyan troops were mercenaries from Sudan as well as Druze from Lebanon.

References

Brogan, 23-5; Chad - A Country Study; Clodfelter, 1010-1; COW207; Kohn, 102-3; Libya - A Country Study; Pollack, 389-97.

Kenneth M Pollack. Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948-1991. University of Nebraska Press. 2002.

Category

Inter-State War

Region

North Africa

Belligerents

Chad, France, Libya

Dispute

Territory

Initiation Date

January 2, 1987^[1]

Termination Date

September 11, 1987

Duration

8 months, 10 days
(253 days)

Outcome

Negotiated Settlement
(Chadian victory)

Fatalities

Total: 8,500
Chad: 1,000
France: 0^[2]
Libya: 7,500^[3]

Magnitude

3.9