French Jets Bomb Rebel Airfield in Chad : Paris Says Libya Operated Base; Tripoli Denies Involvement

French air force jets Sunday bombed an airfield in northern Chad that France said Libya was using to supply rebels waging a week-old offensive against President Hissen Habre.

In Paris, French Defense Minister Paul Quiles said the attack on the airfield at Ouadi Doum, about 90 miles northeast of the rebel stronghold of Faya Largeau, came after “an appeal to France by the government of Chad.”

He said the bombing left the runway unusable and that all French jets returned safely. There was no immediate report of casualties.

‘Foreign Intervention’

“France is manifesting its determination to help Chad in the face of a foreign intervention,” he said.

Habre told reporters in N’Djamena that he welcomed the attack on the rebel airfield, saying it shows that France is now solidly behind his government. Chad is a former French colony.

Libya has denied involvement in the current outbreak of fighting. Its state-run radio said the airport was used “for landing medical supplies and food for the famine victims in the north of Chad.”

The broadcast, monitored in London, said the outbreak between “the two warring parties” has surprised Tripoli. It said Libya is calling for an immediate end to the fighting.

But in Paris, the French Foreign Ministry said the raid was carried out on the personal orders of French President Francois Mitterrand and came in response to a rebel assault in which Libyan soldiers took part.

French officials said a senior French External Relations Ministry official met Libyan Ambassador Hamed Houderi in Paris at the latter’s request on Sunday.

Quiles said that Libya built Ouadi Doum airfield in 1985 with a 12,500-foot runway capable of “receiving all types of military aircraft” and that it has been used as a support center for the rebels. He said it eventually could have been used to provide air support to the rebels.

The facility has been defended by radar installations and Soviet-built SAM-6 anti-aircraft missiles, he added.

Western diplomatic sources said that in the airfield raid, French Jaguars were supported by Mirage fighters flying high cover to prevent interception by Libyan jets.

The sources said the fact that the two aircraft used in-flight refueling indicated they had flown from Bangui, the capital of the neighboring Central African Republic.

History of Conflict

France sent 3,000 troops to Chad, a former French colony, in August, 1983, to help halt an offensive by the rebels and Libyan troops. The French troops were withdrawn in November, 1984, after a truce was called. However, France warned that it would intervene again if the rebels attacked below the truce line. Last Monday, the rebels attacked positions south of the line.

Libya has supported rebel leader Goukouni Oueddei in his war against Habre but maintains that troops it sent to help Goukouni have all been withdrawn from the African nation.

Habre said Sunday that the fighting between government troops and rebels was continuing but that the war front in northern Chad was relatively quiet at the moment.