The Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (; abbreviated CCMSR) is a Chadian militant rebel group that seeks to overthrow the
government of Chad
The Government of Chad has been ruled by Mahamat Déby since 20th April 2021.
The Republic of Chad maintains an embassy in the United States at 2401 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington D.C.
Cabinet
See also
* Minister of Foreign Affairs ( ...
. Founded in 2016, it currently operates in the border regions of northern Chad, southern Libya, eastern
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languagesSudan. The CCMSR has become involved in the
Second Libyan Civil War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Second Libyan Civil War
, partof = the Arab Winter, Libyan Crisis, Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, War on terror, and Qatar–Saudi Arabia diplomatic conflict
, image ...
, and took control of the Kouri Bougoudi area in northern Chad in 2018.
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 ...
has been challenged by numerous armed Chadian opposition groups. Although numerous and relatively powerful, the rebel factions were never able to fully unite to topple Déby who was thus able to crush them repeatedly in course of several civil wars and insurgencies. Over time, the military of Chad grew increasingly powerful, while the Chadian rebels lost their backers and sources of funding. As result, most of them relocated from Chad to
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 the east, Suda ...
and Sudan in 2009, where they worked as mercenaries to remain active and make a living. About 11,000 Chadian mercenaries operated in Libya by August 2017, fighting for numerous Libyan parties such as the Presidential Council/
Government of National Accord
The Government of National Accord ( ar, حكومة الوفاق الوطني) was an interim government for Libya that was formed under the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement, a United Nations–led initiative, signed on 17 December 2015. ...
(GNA) and the
Khalifa Haftar
Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar ( ar, خليفة بلقاسم حفتر, Ḵalīfa Bilqāsim Ḥaftar; born 7 November 1943) is a Libyan-American politician, military officer, and the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LN ...
-loyal
Libyan National Army
The Libyan National Army (LNA; ar, الجيش الوطني الليبي, ''al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii'') is a component of Libya's military forces which were nominally a unified national force under the command of Field Marshal Khalifa ...
(LNA).
Several Chadian dissident groups unified under the leadership of long-time insurgent commander Mahamat Mahdi Ali in March 2016, forming the "
Front for Change and Concord in Chad
The Front for Change and Concord in Chad (french: Front pour l’alternance et la concorde au Tchad, ar, جبهة التغيير والوفاق في تشاد), or FACT, is a political and military organisation created by SG Mahamat Mahdi Ali in ...
" (FACT) and allying themselves with pro-GNA forces in Libya. FACT's unity collapsed almost immediately, however, as violent disputes erupted and part of the group split off in March. This splinter faction consisted of Kreda clansmen and adopted the name "Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic" (CCMSR), electing former UFDD spokesman Mahamat Hassani Bulmay its secretary-general.
Becoming active in the border regions of northern Chad, southern Libya, eastern
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languages and western Sudan, CCMSR allied itself with the pro-GNA Benghazi Defense Brigades, and started to build up its strength in Libya for a rebellion against the Chadian government. It also started to clash with pro-Haftar forces, and one of its bases near Sabha was bombed by the Haftar-aligned Libyan Air Force in April 2016.
Return to Chad
The CCMSR was the first armed Chadian opposition group to return to its home country since 2010, namely when it launched a raid and killed 12 Chadian soldiers in April 2017. It subsequently won some attention in the region, and spread Bulmay's writings among the Chadian population. His messages included support for the interests of the Chadian region of Bahr el Gazel as well as strong criticism of local politicians who worked with Déby's government. Bulmay's ideas found some appeal among Bahr el Gazel's youth. A major clash between the CCMSR and the Chadian military took place on 18 August 2017, as a CSSMR column ran by chance into a Chadian Special Forces patrol near Tekro in
Ennedi
The Ennedi Plateau is located in the northeast of Chad, in the regions of Ennedi-Ouest and Ennedi-Est. It is considered a part of the group of mountains known as the Ennedi Massif found in Chad, which is one of the nine countries that make up t ...
, routing the surprised government forces after a short battle.
The rebel group suffered a heavy blow in October 2017, when the Nigerien government arrested three of its top leaders in
Agadez
Agadez ( Air Tamajeq: ⴰⴶⴰⴷⴰⵣ, ''Agadaz''), formerly spelled Agadès, is the fifth largest city in Niger, with a population of 110,497 based on the 2012 census. The capital of Agadez Region, it lies in the Sahara desert, and is also ...
, namely secretary-general Bulmay, spokesman Ahmat Yacoub Adam, and external affairs secretary Dr. Abderahman Issa Youssouf. The group attempted to force the Nigerien government to release them by threatening to launch a retaliatory attack, but Niger nevertheless extradited them to Chad. Despite its previous threat, CCMSR refrained from attacking Niger in retaliation. Bulmay, Adam, and Youssouf were subsequently put on trial in Chad, charged with the capital offense of terrorism, and transferred to the desert prison of
Koro Toro Koro Toro is a settlement in southern Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region in Chad. It hosts the Koro Toro Airport and a "notorious" maximum security desert prison used by the Chadian government to detain captured fighters of Boko Haram and Chadian rebel ...
. CCMSR appointed Mahamat Tahir Acheick as replacement secretary-general who in turn was succeeded by Michelot Yogogombaye in 2018. Yogogombaye, a loyalist of former Chadian President
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 ...
, operates from
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
.
In March and May 2018, the CCMSR was repeatedly bombed by the Haftar-loyal Libyan Air Force, though these attacks had almost no effect. In contrast, one Libyan air raid in June against one of the militia's bases at Um Aranib reportedly resulted in significant losses. At some point, the CCMSR joined a Chadian rebel coalition, the "National Front for Democracy and Justice in Chad" which was founded in July 2018.
Control of Kouri Bougoudi
On 11 August 2018, CCMSR launched a major attack on the military outpost at Kouri Bougoudi in the
Tibesti Mountains
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 i ...
, later claiming to have killed 73 and captured 45 soldiers while suffering just 11 casualties (4 dead, 7 wounded). The Chadian government initially attempted to deny that the attack had taken place, and then downplayed its significance. While the CCMSR offered to release its prisoners in return for the release of Bulmay, Adam, and Youssouf, the Chadian government refused to negotiate with "savage mercenaries, bandits ndthugs", and instead ordered local miners to abandon their camp at Kouri Bougoudi. The military subsequently retreated from the area on 22 August, leaving it to the CCMSR and illegal miners. From then on, the Chadian Air Force launched several bombing raids in the region, targeting the Kouri Bougoudi mining camp and camel herds, killing several civilians and depriving locals of their livelihood. Meanwhile, the CCMSR continued its attacks against government positions, such as at Tarbou in Tibesti Region (21 September), and Miski in Borkou Region (24 October). Some locals criticised the CCMSR of exploiting and worsening ethnic tensions in the Tibesti Mountains.
At the same time, tensions increased in southern Libya, as native civilians and armed forces were increasingly opposed to the presence of Chadian militants, resulting in numerous clashes. In late October 2018, Haftar's LNA launched an offensive in the Murzuq basin to evict rival Libyan and Chadian groups, including the CCMSR, from the region. It has been speculated that the Chadian militants who attacked the LNA base at Traghan on 27 December 2018, were connected to the CCMSR. On 12 January 2019, the CCMSR clashed with the LNA-allied Sudanese SLM/A-Minnawi at Gatroun in southern Libya, and with the pro-Déby Sudanese
Justice and Equality Movement
The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM; ar, حركة العدل والمساواة, ') is an opposition group in Sudan founded by Khalil Ibrahim. Gibril Ibrahim has led the group since January 2012 after the death of Khalil, his brother, in Dec ...
at the gold mines of Kouri Bougoudi in northern Chad. By February 2019, the CCMSR came under increasing pressure by the LNA and its allies, as the latter had launched another offensive to evict the GNA and Chadian rebels from southern Libya.
Continued cross-border raids
By August 2019, the CCMSR had lost control of Kouri Bougoudi, but continued to launch cross-border raids into the Tibesti Mountains. The Chadian military responded with a "crackdown" in the area and declared a regional state of emergency for five months. On 19 February 2020, CCMSR troops launched another raid against Kouri Bougoudi, resulting in a larger battle with security forces. Both sides claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on their opponents before the rebels retreated back into Libya.
When Idriss Déby was killed in combat during a FACT-led offensive, his son Mahamat Déby Itno took power. The CCMSR consequently declared its commitment to overthrow Déby Itno's Transitional Military Council (TMC), and supported FACT in its offensive. At this point, the CCMSR was headed by Rachid Mahamat Tahir.
Ideology
CCMSR portrays itself as Chadian nationalist movement that is opposed to the authoritarian regime of Idriss Déby which it regards as uncaring and oppressive toward the Chadian people. In one statement, Mahamat Hassani Bulmay described Déby's government as "clan despotism in its most pernicious and most abject form", and stated that the only way to end his rule is through war. According to Bulmay, the Chadian President had a "double choice, the grave or the prison". Furthermore, the CCMSR has voiced its support for the interests of marginalized peoples and areas in northern and central Chad.
Islam also plays a part in the ideology of the CCMSR, and is used by the group to rally local support, form alliances in southern Libya, and sway public opinion against Déby and his inner circle, whom the CCMSR has accused of being "bad Muslims". Despite this, the CCMSR is not an overtly religious organization. Most notably, its former head Bulmay was known for being not devout.
Strength
The CCMSR claims to have 4,500 fighters under its command, most of them members of the
Toubou people
The Toubou or Tubu (from Old Tebu, meaning "rock people") are an ethnic group native to the Tibesti Mountains that inhabit the central Sahara in northern Chad, southern Libya and northeastern Niger. They live either as herders and nomads or ...
's Daza subgroup, as well as smaller numbers of
Arabs
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
, Maba, and Zaghawa. It is the largest group in the "National Front for Democracy and Justice in Chad" rebel coalition. There have been allegations that the CCMSR is financed by
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...
, as it is allied to Libyan militias which are supported by Qatar.