Rebel leaders in Chad revealed the return of about 900 fighter affiliated with the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development from their rear base in southern Libya, as part of a commitment to implement the peace agreement signed in Doha in August 2022.

This comes after years spent abroad following their defeat when they attempted to overthrow former Chadian president Idriss Deby in 2008.

The fighters crossed into Chadian territory on January 2, 2023.

Their leader, Mahamat Nouri Allatchi, and his vice-president Mahamat Assileck Halata, currently Minister of Urban Planning, travelled from Chad's capital N'Djamena to welcome the group in the town of Faya-Largeau, in the far north of Chad.

The plan is to intergrate the fighters into the Chadian army and government.