The battle of Fada took place in northern Chad in 1987, and was a turning point of the Chadian-Libyan war. 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

At the beginning of 1986 the Libyans controlled all Chad north of the 16th parallel. However, when the French intervened in the country in Operation Sparrowhawk and Goukouni Oueddei's and his People's Armed Forces rebelled against his former supporter Qaddafi, Libya's President, the situation became critical for the Libyan army and promising for Chad's President Hissène Habré. 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Goukouni Oueddei (1944 – present) is a Chadian political figure, son of a derde of Teda. ... The Peoples 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. ... Qadhafi can refer to: Moammar al-Qadhafi, leader of Libya since 1970 Khadaffy Janjalani, leader of the Filipino terrorist group Abu Sayyaf This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Military branches: Armed Peoples on Duty (Army), Navy, Air and Air Defense Command (includes Air Force) Military manpower - military age: 17 years of age Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 1,503,647 (2002 est. ... List of Heads of State of Chad (Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office) Affiliations:- See also:- Chad Heads of Government of Chad Colonial Heads of Chad lists of incumbents Categories: Lists of office-holders ... Hissène Habré (born 1942), also spelled Hissen Habré, was the leader of Chad from 1982 until he was deposed in 1990. ...

Certain that the French would protect Chad south of the 16th parallel, Habré started assembling his army, the Chadian National Armed Forces (FANT), at Kalaït, a logistic deposit built by France exactly at the 16th parallel, and which it had stocked with munitions, weapons and fuel. France and the United States had equipped the FANT with a large number of Toyota Pickup, and antitank and antiaircraft missile launchers, such as MILAN ATGWs. The FANT assault under the command of Hassane Djamous deployed almost 3000 soldiers for the coming battle. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Milan (Italian: Milano; Milanese: Milán) is the main city of northern Italy, and is located in the plains of Lombardy, the most populated and developed region in Italy. ... An Anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) or weapon (ATGW) is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles. ...

This powerful force invested Fada, the capital of the Ennedi and a Libyan stronghold, on January 2. Hassane Djamous took the 1,000 Libyan soldiers and the 300–400 members of the Revolutionary Democratic Council (CDR) militia by surprise. In a short but brutal engagement the FANT almost annihilated the Libyan armoured brigade that defended Fada: 784 Libyans died, 92 T-55 and 33 BMP-1 tanks were destroyed, and 13 T-55 and 18 BMP-1 captured, together with 81 Libyan soldiers. Chadian losses were mininimal: only 18 soldiers died and three Toyotas were destroyed. Fada is the capital of the Ennedi region of Chad, lying in the Ennedi Mountains. ... Bourkou-Ennedi-Tibesti is most extensive of the 14 prefectures that Chad was divided into between 1960 and 1999. ... January 2 is the second day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The T-54 and T-55 main battle tanks were the Soviet Unions replacements for the World War II era T-34 tank. ... The BMP-1 is a Soviet infantry fighting vehicle which was first introduced in the early 1960s. ...

Although the Chadian commander's tactical ability played an important role in the victory, the anti-tank missiles were decisive. When combined with the superior maneuverability of the Toyotas, they proved their efficacy against the Libyan tanks.

On January 3 and 4 the Libyan Air Force sent several waves of bombers to Fada in an attempt to destroy the captured equipment and ammunition. Still, these could not change the essential fact that Libya had suffered a major defeat that was to prove the beginning of the end of the Chadian-Libyan War.

External links

• Operation Epervier (in French)
• Libyan Wars