France has started the withdrawal of its military from Chad with the departure of two warplanes that were based in the capital N'Djamena, the French army said, two weeks after Chad said it was ending its defence cooperation pact with Paris.

The decision by Chad is another blow to what remained of France’s military influence in the troubled stretch of countries below the Sahara, where Russia’s influence has been growing.

France, Chad's former colonial ruler, had signed a revised version of the military and security agreement in 2019. Chad is just the latest nation in Central and West Africa to sever its security agreements with Paris.