Toyota War: Difference between revisions

|date=December 16, December 1986 – September 11, September 1987<br />({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=12|day1=16|year1=1986|month2=09|day2=11|year2=1987}})

|strength1={{ubl|'''Libya''':{{ubl|3590,000{{sfn|Metz|2004|p=254}}|300+ tanks|60+ aircraft}}|'''CDR''':{{ubl|1,000 militia<ref>''The Americana Annual, 1988'', 180</ref>}}}}

|strength2={{ubl|'''FANT''':{{ubl|3828,000{{sfn|Azevedo|1998|p=119}}}}|'''FAP''':{{ubl|31,500–2,000<ref>''The Economic Cost of Soviet Military Manpower Requirements'', 143</ref>}}|'''France''':{{ubl|1,500|4012+ aircraft}}}}

|casualties1={{ubl|47,500 killed|21,500000 captured|200800 tanks &and APCs lost|28–2228–32 aircraft destroyed<ref name=Pollack397>{{harvnb|Pollack|2002|p=397}}</ref>}}

|casualties2=21,500000 killed<ref name=Pollack397 />

The '''Toyota War''' ({{Lang-ar|حرب التويوتا|Ḥarb al-Tūyūtā}}, {{Lang-fr|Guerre des Toyota}}), oralso known as the '''Great Toyota War''',{{sfn|Neville|2018|p=16}} which took place in 1987 in Northern [[Chad]] and on the [[Chad–Libya border]], was the last phase of the [[Chadian–Libyan conflictWar]]. It takes its name from the [[Toyota]] pickup trucks, primarily the [[Toyota Hilux]] and the [[Toyota Land Cruiser]], used to provide mobility for the Chadian troops as they fought against the Libyans, and as [[Technical (vehicle)|technical]]s.{{sfn|Clayton|1998|p=161}} The 1987 war resulted in a heavy defeat for Libya, which, according to American sources, lost one tenth of its army, with 7,500 men killed and [[United States dollar|US$]]1.5 billion worth of [[military equipment]] destroyed or captured.<ref name=Simons58>{{harvnb|Simons|2004|p=58}}</ref> Chadian forces only suffered 1,000 deaths.<ref name=Pollack397/>

In 1986, the GUNT rebelled against Gaddafi, stripping Libya of its main cover of legitimacy for its military presence in Chad. Seeing an occasion to unify Chad behind him, Habré ordered his forces to pass the 16th parallel so as to link up with the GUNT rebels (who were fighting the Libyans in [[Tibesti Mountains|Tibesti]]) in December.{{sfn|Nolutshungu|1995|p=212}} A few weeks later a bigger force struck at [[Fada, Chad|Fada]], destroying the local Libyan garrison. In three months, combining methods of guerilla and conventional warfare in a common strategy,{{sfn|Azevedo|1998|p=124}} Habré was able to retake almost all of northern Chad, and in the following months, inflicted new heavy defeats on the Libyans, until a [[ceasefire]] putting an end to the conflict was signed in September. The ceasefire left open the issue of the disputed [[Aouzou Strip]], which was eventually [[Libya–Chad Territorial Dispute case|assigned to Chad]] by the [[International Court of Justice]] in 1994.

Since 1983, [[Chad]] was ''de facto'' partitioned, with the northern half controlled by the rebel [[Transitional Government of National Unity (Chad)|Transitional Government of National Unity]] (GUNT) headed by [[Goukouni Oueddei]] and supported on the ground by [[Armed forces of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya|Libyan forces]], while the south was held by the Western-backed Chadian government guided by [[Hissène Habré]].<ref>{{harvnb|Pollack|2002|p=383}}</ref> This partition on 16th parallel (the so-called Red Line) into Libyan and French zones of influence was informally recognised by France in 1984, following an accord between France and [[Libya]] to withdraw their forces from Chad.{{sfn|Brecher|Wilkenfeld|1997|p=92}} The accord was not respected by Libya, which maintained at least 3,000 men stationed in northern Chad.{{sfn|Azevedo|1998|p=140}}

The Libyans also had to deal with the greatly strengthened [[Chadian National Armed Forces]] (FANT), which was composed of 10,000 highly motivated soldiers, led by experienced and able commanders, such as [[Idriss Déby]], [[Hassan Djamous]] and [[Heads of State of Chad|Head of State]] [[Hissène Habré]] himself. And while FANT previously had no air power, limited mobility, and few anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, by 1987, it could count on the [[French Air Force]] to keep Libyan aircraft grounded and, most importantly, to provide 400 new [[Toyota pickup]]s equipped with [[MILAN]] [[anti-tank guided missile]]s. It is these trucks that gave the name "Toyota War" to this last phase of the Chadian-Libyan conflict.{{sfn|Azevedo|1998|pp=149–150}}<ref>{{harvnb|Pollack|2002|pp=391, 398}}</ref>

After a succession of counterattacks, toward the end of August, the Libyans finally drove the 400 Chadian soldiers out of the town. This victory – the first by Libyan ground forces since the start of the Toyota War – was apparently achieved through close-range air strikes, which were followed by ground troops advancing cross-country in jeeps, Toyota all-terrain trucks, and light armoured vehicles. For the Libyans, who had previously relied on ponderous tracked armour, the assault represented a conversion to the desert warfare tactics developed by FANT.{{sfn|Collelo|1990|p={{page needed|date=February 2021}}}} To highlight the victory, Gaddafi flew foreign journalists to the region, so the news of his victory could reach the headlines.<ref name=Simons58/>

Habré quickly reacted to this setback and to the continued bombing of FANT concentrations in northern Chad. On September 5, 1987, he mounted a [[Battle of Maaten al-Sarra|surprise raid against the key Libyan air base at Maaten al-Sarra]]. Reportedly, 1,000 Libyans were killed, 300 were captured, and hundreds of others were forced to flee into the surrounding desert. Chad claimed that its troops destroyed about 32 aircraft – including [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21]] and [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23|MiG-23]] fighters, [[Sukhoi Su-17|Sukhoi Su-22]] [[fighter-bombers]], and [[Mil Mi-24]] helicopters – before the FANT column withdrew to Chadian soil.{{sfn|Collelo|1990|p={{page needed|date=February 2021}}}}

The attack had been opposed by France, which refused to provide FANT with intelligence and logistical support, causing FANT to suffer considerable losses. The [[Minister of Defence (France)|French Defence Minister]] [[{{Interlanguage link|André Giraud]]|fr}} let it be known that "France was not implicated in any way" in the attack and "had not been informed of it". The American reaction was markedly different, as it had previously supported the attempted reconquest of the [[Aouzou Strip]]; it now welcomed the Chadian raid.{{sfn|Nolutshungu|1995|pp=222–223}}

[[Category:Battles of the Chadian–Libyan conflictWar]]