{{For, the Spanish municipality, Codos, Aragon
The Codos or Commandos were guerrilla groups, active in southern
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 Repub ...
from 1983 to 1986, that resisted domination of their region by the 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 un ...
's army. Many were veterans of the government army of the 1970s or
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 ...
's
Chadian 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, w ...
(FAT), which had collapsed in 1982 under Habré's attacks with the short-lived
Republic of Logone
The Republic of Logone (french: République de Logone), also known as Dar al-Kuti (french: Dar el-Kouti, links=no), was a partially-realized, self-declared autonomous region and proto-state internationally recognised as part of the Central Afric ...
. Totaling as many as 15,000, they operated independently.
There were, in 1983, five codos groups. These were the Red Codos (''Codos Rouge''), commanded by
Alphonse Kotiga
Colonel Alphonse Kotiga, also known as Kotiga Guérina, was a Chadian military officer and politician. He was one of the leaders of the coup d'etat which overthrew and killed Chadian President François Tombalbaye on 15 April 1975, and then became ...
, based in Moyen-Chari; the Coconut Codos (''Codos Cocotieres''), of Elie Atanga and Elea Djoack, in Mayo-Kebbi; the Green Codos (''Codos Vert'') of Pierre Tokino in Logone Oriental; the Hope Codos (''Codos Espoir'') of Kayer in Tandjile; and the Panther Codos (''Codos Panthères'') of Koulangar in Logone Occidental. They were supported by the
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of the C ...
, who offered them sanctuary in its borders. Habré at first attempted negotiations, making Defence minister a former leader of the ''codos''; but when discussions broke down, the President resorted, in August 1984, to force and wide-scale fighting erupted in four of the five southern
Prefectures
A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
, counting now on the support of the Central African President
André Kolingba
André-Dieudonné Kolingba (12 August 1936 – 7 February 2010) was a Central African politician, who was the fourth President of the Central African Republic (CAR), from 1 September 1981 until 1 October 1993. He took power from President David ...
. The
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 Nor ...
(FANT) acted with rare brutality, destroying many villages and making itself guilty of wide-scale massacres of civilians. But it worked: in 1985, the greatest part of the south had been subdued.
The Red Codos, formed with
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, Su ...
n and
GUNT
The Gunt (russian: Гунт, tg, Ғунд ''Ghund'' or Аличур ''Alichur'', historically in English also ''Ghund'') is a river in the south of Tajikistan, north of the Shughnon Range. It is long and has a basin area of .< ...
support, were the most effective. Kotiga exercised some influence over the other groups and was instrumental in persuading them to abandon their insurgency by promises of rewards and rehabilitation in 1985 and 1986. Many have been "recycled" by French trainers at an instructional center at
Mongo
Mongo may refer to:
Geography Africa
* Mongo, Chad, a Sahel city
* Apostolic Vicariate of Mongo (Roman Catholic missionary jurisdiction)
* Mongo, Sierra Leone, a chiefdom
* Mongo River (Little Scarces River), Guinea and Sierra Leone, a tribut ...
, thousands of former codos (commandos) had been "recycled" by French trainers, assisted by a large cadre of Chadian military. While about 1,500 have been assimilated into the FANT, most have been organized into work brigades for service as agricultural or road laborers.