The Toyota War (, ) or Great Toyota War was the last phase of the Chadian–Libyan conflict, which took place in 1987 in Northern

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

and on the

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

n–Chadian border. It takes its name from the

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

pickup trucks used, primarily the

Toyota Hilux The , stylized as HiLux and historically as Hi-Lux, is a series of pickup trucks produced and marketed by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The majority of these vehicles are sold as pickup truck or cab chassis variants, although the ...

and the

Toyota Land Cruiser The (also sometimes spelled as LandCruiser) is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. It is Toyota's longest running series of models. , the sales of the Land Cruiser totalled more than ...

, to provide mobility for the Chadian troops as they fought against the Libyans, and as

technical Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical analysis, a discipline for forecasting the future direction of prices through the study of past market data * Technical drawing, showing how something is co ...

s. 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

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

1.5 billion worth of military equipment destroyed or captured. Chadian forces only suffered 1,000 deaths. The war began with the Libyan occupation of northern Chad in 1983, when Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi, refusing to recognise the legitimacy of the

Chadian President This is a list of heads of state of Chad since the country gained independence from France in 1960 to the present day. A total of six people have served as head of state of Chad (not counting two Interim Heads of State). Additionally, one per ...

Hissène Habré Hissène Habré (Arabic: ''Ḥusaīn Ḥabrī'', Chadian Arabic: ; ; 13 August 1942 – 24 August 2021), also spelled Hissen Habré, was a Chadian politician and convicted war criminal who served as the 5th president of Chad from 1982 u ...

, militarily supported the attempt by the opposition

Transitional Government of National Unity The Transitional Government of National Unity (''Gouvernement d'Union Nationale de Transition'' or GUNT) was the coalition government of armed groups that nominally ruled Chad from 1979 to 1982, during the most chaotic phase of the long-running ci ...

(GUNT) to overthrow Habré. The plan was foiled by the intervention of France which, first with

Operation Manta Operation Manta was a French military intervention in Chad between 1983 and 1984, during the Chadian–Libyan conflict. The operation was prompted by the invasion of Chad by a joint force of Libyan units and Chadian Transitional Government of Na ...

and later with

Operation Epervier Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

, limited Libyan expansion to north of the 16th parallel, in the most arid and sparsely inhabited part of Chad. 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 The Tibesti Mountains are a mountain range in the central Sahara, primarily located in the extreme north of Chad, with a small portion located in southern Libya. The highest peak in the range, Emi Koussi, lies to the south at a height of and ...

) in December. A few weeks later a bigger force struck at Fada, destroying the local Libyan garrison. In three months, combining methods of guerilla and conventional warfare in a common strategy, 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 A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...

putting an end to the conflict was signed in September. The ceasefire left open the issue of the disputed Aouzou Strip, which was eventually assigned to Chad by the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

in 1994.

Background

Since 1983

was ''de facto'' partitioned, with the northern half controlled by the rebel

(GUNT) headed by

Goukouni Oueddei Goukouni Oueddei ( ar, كوكوني عويدي '; born 1944 in Zouar) is a Chadian politician who served as President of Chad from 1979 to 1982. A northerner, Goukouni commanded FROLINAT rebels with Libyan support during the first Chadian Civ ...

and supported on the ground by Libyan forces, while the south was held by the Western-backed Chadian government guided by

. 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

to withdraw their forces from Chad. The accord was not respected by Libya, which maintained at least 3,000 men stationed in northern Chad. During the period between 1984 and 1986, in which no major clash took place, Habré greatly strengthened his position thanks to Western support and Libya's failure to respect the Franco-Libyan 1984 agreement. From 1984 onwards, the GUNT also suffered increasing factional tensions, centered on the fight between Goukouni and

Acheikh ibn Oumar Acheikh Ibn-Oumar (born 1951) is a Chadian politician and military leader. In the 1980s he led the Democratic Revolutionary Council (in French CDR: Conseil Démocratique Révolutionnaire), a military-political group opposing the government of Pres ...

over the leadership of the organisation. Taking advantage of the GUNT's difficulties, Habré struck a series of accords with smaller rebel factions, which left the GUNT at the beginning of 1986 with only three of the eleven factions that had originally signed the

Lagos Accord {{Short description, 1979 Chadian Civil War peace treaty The Lagos Accord was a peace agreement signed on August 21, 1979, by representatives of eleven warring factions of the Chadian Civil War, after a conference in Lagos, Nigeria. The accord es ...

in 1979. The remaining factions were Goukouni's

People's Armed Forces The People's Armed Forces (''Forces Armées Populaires'' or FAP) was a Chadian insurgent group composed of followers of Goukouni Oueddei after the schism with Hissène Habré in 1976. With an ethnic base in the Teda clan of the Toubou from the ...

(FAP), Acheikh's armed branch of the

Democratic Revolutionary Council The Democratic Revolutionary Council (french: Conseil démocratique révolutionnaire or ''CDR''), active in Chad, was a faction of FROLINAT founded by Ahmat AcylChadian Armed Forces The Chadian Armed Forces (''Forces Armées Tchadiennes'' or FAT) were the army of the central government of Chad from 1960 to 1979, under the southern presidents François Tombalbaye and Félix Malloum, until the downfall of the latter in 1979, wh ...

(FAT) which had maintained its loyalty to

Wadel Abdelkader Kamougué Wadel Abdelkader Kamougué (May 20, 1939 – May 9, 2011) was a Chadian politician and army officer. Kamougué was a leading figure in the 1975 coup d'état and subsequently held several positions in the Chadian government and legislature. He was ...

Forces on the ground

At the opening of 1987, the last year of the war, the Libyan expeditionary force was still impressive, comprising 8,000 soldiers, 300 tanks, multiple rocket launchers (

rocket artillery Rocket artillery is artillery that uses rocket explosives as the projectile. The use of rocket artillery dates back to medieval China where devices such as fire arrows were used (albeit mostly as a psychological weapon). Fire arrows were also ...

) and regular artillery pieces, Mi-24 helicopters, and sixty combat aircraft. These forces did not have a unified command, but were divided into an Operational Group South, active in the

with 2,500 men, and an Operational Group East, centered in

Faya-Largeau Faya-Largeau (also known as Faya, ar, فايا لارجو or ) is the largest city in northern Chad and was the capital of the region of Bourkou-Ennedi-Tibesti. It is now in the Borkou Region, which was formed in 2008 from the Borkou Department ...

. Apparently formidable, the Libyan military disposition in Chad was marred by serious flaws. The Libyans were prepared for a war in which they would provide ground and air support to their Chadian allies, act as assault infantry, and provide reconnaissance. By 1987, however, Muammar Gaddafi had lost his allies, exposing Libya's inadequate knowledge of the area. Libyan garrisons came to resemble isolated and vulnerable islands in the Chadian Sahara. Also important was the low morale among the troops, who were fighting in a foreign country, and the structural disorganisation of the

military of Libya , image = , alt = , caption = , image2 = , alt2 = , caption2 = , motto = , founded = , current_form = 2014 (Libyan National ...

, which was in part induced by Muammar Gaddafi's fear of a military coup against him. This fear led him to avoid the professionalisation of the armed forces. The Libyans had also to deal with the greatly strengthened

Chadian National Armed Forces The Chadian National Armed Forces (''Forces Armées Nationales Tchadiennes'' or FANT) was the army of the central government of Chad from January 1983, when the President Hissène Habré's forces, in first place his personal Armed Forces of the Nort ...

(FANT), which was composed of 10,000 highly motivated soldiers, led by experienced and able commanders, such as

Idriss Déby Idriss Déby Itno ' (18 June 1952 – 20 April 2021) was a Chadian politician and military officer who was the president of Chad from 1990 until his death in 2021. Déby was a member of the Bidayat clan of the Zaghawa ethnic group. A high-ranki ...

Hassan Djamous Hassan Djamous ( ar, حسن جاموس, died April 1989) was a Commander-in-Chief of the military of Chad and a cousin of Chadian President Idriss Déby. He led Chadian forces during the Chadian–Libyan conflict, such as the victory in the Ba ...

and

Head of State A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

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 The , stylized as HiLux and historically as Hi-Lux, is a series of pickup trucks produced and marketed by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The majority of these vehicles are sold as pickup truck or cab chassis variants, although they ...

s equipped with

MILAN Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

anti-tank guided missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder ...

s. It is these trucks that gave the name "Toyota War" to this last phase of the Chadian-Libyan conflict.

Libyan expulsion

Habré selected as the first target for his reconquest of northern Chad the well-fortified Libyan communications base of Fada. It was defended by 2,000 Libyans and the bulk of the

Democratic Revolutionary Council The Democratic Revolutionary Council (french: Conseil démocratique révolutionnaire or ''CDR''), active in Chad, was a faction of FROLINAT founded by Ahmat AcylIn the battle, 784 Libyans were killed and 100 tanks destroyed, while only 50 FANT soldiers died. The unexpected defeat stunned Gaddafi, who then reacted on 4 January by recalling to service all of the army reservists. In an act of defiance towards France, he also ordered the bombing of

Arada Arada may refer to: Geography * Arada, Chad, a town and subprefecture in the department of Biltine in eastern Chad * Arada (Addis Ababa), one of the 10 subcities of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia * Arada, Honduras, a municipality in the Ho ...

, well south of the 16th parallel. France retaliated with a new airstrike on Ouadi Doum and destroyed its radar system, effectively blinding the Libyan Air Force in Chad for several months. Gaddafi attempted to contain the FANT threat by rushing several new battalions into Chad (especially to

and Ouadi Doum), including units of the elite Revolutionary Guard. This brought the amount of Libyan forces in the country to a total of 11,000 by March. In March 1987, the main Libyan air base of Ouadi Doum was captured by Chadian forces. Although strongly defended by

minefields A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

, 5,000 soldiers, tanks, armoured vehicles, and aircraft, the Libyans' base fell to a smaller Chadian attacking force led by Djamous equipped with trucks mounted with machine guns and antitank weapons. Observers estimated that, in the Chadian victories in the first three months of 1987, more than 3,000 Libyan soldiers had been killed, captured, or deserted. Large numbers of tanks, armoured personnel carriers, artillery, fixed-wing aircraft, and helicopters were captured or destroyed. In some cases, Libya sent its own aircraft to bomb abandoned Libyan equipment to deny its use to the Chadians. It was reported that, in many cases, Libyan soldiers had been killed while fleeing to avoid battle. At Ouadi Doum, panicked Libyans had suffered high casualties running through their own minefields. The fall of Ouadi Doum was a severe setback for Libya. Deserted by most of their Chadian allies, Libyan forces found themselves isolated in foreign territory, and the loss of the main Libyan air base in Chad prevented Libya from providing close air cover to its troops. In general, the offensive against FANT had exposed the vulnerability of Libya's heavy armour to a more mobile enemy. On Gaddafi's orders, a general withdrawal was undertaken from

Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Prefecture Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Prefecture was the largest of the 14 prefectures of Chad between 1960 and 1999. It was transformed into Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region, one of the 18 regions into which the country has been divided since 2002. Its name is of ...

, beginning with

. The town had served as the main Libyan base during the preceding four years, but was in danger of being encircled. Its garrison of 3,000 men, together with the survivors of Ouadi Doum, retired toward the Libyan base at Maatan-as-Sarra, north of the Chadian border. In an attempt to reduce the damage inflicted to his international standing, Gaddafi announced that Libya had won the confrontation, and was now leaving Chad so that the opposition could play its part in fighting Habré. These military actions left Habré in control of Chad and in a position to threaten the expulsion of Libya from the Aouzou Strip, affected the international perception of Libya as a significant regional military power, and cast renewed doubt on the competence and determination of Libyan soldiers, especially in engagements beyond the country's borders to which they evidently felt no personal commitment. The Toyota War attracted considerable interest in the United States, where the possibility of using Habré to overthrow Gaddafi was given serious consideration. As part of the

Reagan Administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following a landslide victory over D ...

's support for his government, Habré, during a visit to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, received a pledge of

32 million worth of aid, including

Stinger A stinger (or sting) is a sharp organ found in various animals (typically insects and other arthropods) capable of injecting venom, usually by piercing the epidermis of another animal. An insect sting is complicated by its introduction of ve ...

anti-aircraft missiles.

Renewed Chadian offensive

In August 1987, the encouraged Chadians carried their offensive into the disputed Aouzou Strip, occupying the town of Aouzou following another battle in which the Libyans suffered severe losses in troops and abandoned equipment. In retaliation, Libya intensified its air bombardments of towns in the north, usually from altitudes beyond the range of FANT's shoulder-fired missiles. Appeals by Habré for French air missions to defend the area against the bombing were rejected, as Aouzou had been retaken against the wishes of

French President The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

. Instead, Mitterrand called for international mediation to settle competing claims to the

disputed territory A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources s ...

. 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. To highlight the victory, Gaddafi flew foreign journalists to the region, so the news of his victory could reach the headlines. Habré quickly reacted to this setback and to the continued bombing of FANT concentrations in northern Chad. On September 5, 1987 he mounted a 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 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, De ...

and

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-23; NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is a third-generati ...

fighters,

Sukhoi Su-22 The Sukhoi Su-17 (''izdeliye'' S-32) is a variable-sweep wing fighter-bomber developed for the Soviet military. Its NATO reporting name is "Fitter". Developed from the Sukhoi Su-7, the Su-17 was the first variable-sweep wing aircraft to enter ...

fighter-bombers A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, ...

, and

Mil Mi-24 The Mil Mi-24 (russian: Миль Ми-24; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and has been ...

helicopters – before the FANT column withdrew to Chadian soil. The attack had been opposed by France, which refused to provide FANT with intelligence and logistical support, causing FANT to suffer considerable losses. The

French Defence Minister The Minister of the Armed Forces (french: Ministre des armées, ) is the leader and most senior official of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, tasked with running the French Armed Forces. The minister is the third highest civilian having a ...

André Giraud André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation ...

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.

Ceasefire

Because of domestic opposition, internal demoralisation, and international hostility, Gaddafi assumed a more conciliatory attitude following his defeat. On the other side, Habré also found himself vulnerable, as the French feared that the attack on Maatan as-Sarrah was only the first stage of a general offensive into Libya proper, a possibility that France was not disposed to tolerate. As a result, Mitterrand forced Habré to accept the mediation efforts of the

Organisation of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; french: Organisation de l'unité africaine, OUA) was an intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 32 signatory governments. One of the main heads for OAU's ...

's Chairman,

Kenneth Kaunda Kenneth David Kaunda (28 April 1924 – 17 June 2021), also known as KK, was a Zambian politician who served as the first President of Zambia from 1964 to 1991. He was at the forefront of the struggle for independence from British rule. Diss ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

, which resulted in a ceasefire on 11 September. It was assumed that war would, sooner or later, resume, but in the end the ceasefire violations were relatively minor. Gaddafi announced in May 1988 that he would recognise Habré as President of Chad "as a gift to Africa", even if Libya refused to leave the disputed Aouzou Strip. On 3 October the two countries resumed diplomatic relations, and another important step was made when the two countries agreed in September 1990 to refer the dispute to the

. On 3 February 1994, the court ruled in favour of Chad, thus definitively solving the Aouzou controversy by assigning the territory to the southern country. Monitored by international observers, the withdrawal of Libyan troops from the Strip began on the 15 April and was completed by the 10 May. The formal and final transfer of the Aouzou Strip from Libya to Chad took place on the 30 May, when the sides signed a joint declaration stating that the Libyan withdrawal had been effected.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * *
Le pick up des guerilleros, La révolution Toyota en Libye
2011). Tristan Ranx. Fluctuat.net. {{good article Wars involving Libya Wars involving Chad Battles of the Chadian–Libyan conflict 1986 in Libya 1987 in Libya 1986 in Chad 1987 in Chad Toyota