Chad said it is necessary for the country to take the decision because of the false allegations that its troops in the peacekeeping mission in the Central Africa Republic aided rebels.
There were allegations from the interim government of the Central Africa Republic last week that the Chadian soldiers support the Muslim Seleka rebels whose seizure power last year.
The Seleka rebels led by Micheal Djotodia ousted President Francois Bozize last year in a bloody battle but the country continued to be in turmoil, forcing Micheal Djotodia to resign in a deal brokered by regional and international leaders.
Last weekend, Chadian forces were blamed for the deaths of 24 people in the capital, Bangui. The troops, however, said they were responding to an attack launched by the Christian anti-balaka militias.
A statement from the Chadian foreign ministry said its troops had been criticized falsely despite their sacrifices in stabilizing the country.
“Despite the sacrifices we have made, Chad and Chadians have been targeted in a gratuitous and malicious campaign that blamed them for all the suffering in Central Africa Republic,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Chadian troops make up a sizeable number of the African Union’s contingent in Central Africa Republic. It has some 850 soldiers making up the 6,000 African Union Peacekeeping Mission in the country.
Recently, thousands of Muslims in the country have fled to neighboring Chad and Cameroon after being targeted by Christian militias, the anti-balaka. Chad has been very instrumental in providing security to these fleeing Muslims.
Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that the Christian anti-balaka militia killed at least 72 Muslim men and boys in the month of February alone.
The United Nations says the conflict has driven a million people out of their homes and further estimates that about 2.6 million people need urgent humanitarian aid in the country.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News
Writer’s Email Address: Adamsisska@googlemail.com
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