Libyans Reportedly Bomb Arms, Planes They Left at Chad Base

Libyan jets hit Ouadi Doum in blanket bombing that destroyed or damaged about half the Soviet-made aircraft left behind when Chad’s troops routed Libyan forces at that base two weeks ago, a senior French officer said Friday.

The high-altitude raids continued all day Friday at the base in northern Chad, about 150 miles south of the Libyan border.

The officer, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said the bombing of Ouadi Doum was the reason for Friday’s warning to the Libyans by French Defense Minister Andre Giraud, who said in Paris that French military forces may have to intervene north of the 16th Parallel, implying they might attack the Libyan bombers.

The French have 2,500 troops and a squadron of Jaguar fighter-bombers south of the 16th Parallel, which for years served as the unofficial truce line between Chadian and Libyan forces in this former French colony.

N’Djamena, the capital, is 620 miles from Ouadi Doum, meaning the Jaguars would require airborne refueling.

The French officer said much of the estimated $500 million worth of Soviet-made weaponry abandoned at Ouadi Doum is brand new, highly sophisticated and types that had never fallen into Western hands before. That explains Libya’s persistence in bombing it, he said.

Aircraft found intact there included three MI-24 armored attack helicopters, three Italian-made Marchetti light planes, nine Czechoslovak-made L-39 ground support planes, two Sukoi fighter-bombers and an Antonov-26 transport.

The Frenchman said at least half the aircraft were destroyed or damaged in air attacks. The Chadians overran the base March 22.

He said, the Libyans also left behind modern versions of SAM-6 surface-to-air missile batteries, never in Western hands before.

The officer said the Libyan jets were bombing Ouadi Doum daily from at least 20,000 feet up, generally attacking in two phases each lasting 90 minutes.

“The Russians must have put a lot of pressure on the Libyans to wipe out all this equipment before we got hold of it,” he said.

Ouadi Doum was the Libyans’ most important military base during their five-year occupation of northern Chad.

In their headlong flight from the base, the Libyans left behind T-55 and T-72 tanks, heavy rocket launcher systems, trucks and armored personnel carriers, aircraft, and other weapons, sources said.

French intelligence officers flew to Ouadi Doum this week to inspect the equipment. Some of it was expected to be flown to the United States for study by U.S. experts.

Ouadi Doum’s 13,000-foot runway was undamaged in the Chadian blitz that sent the 2,500-man Libyan garrison fleeing.

The Libyans “were so terrified they fled across their own mine fields,” a Chadian officer said. Chadian officers said many of the 3,500 Libyans killed during the three-month Chadian push died from their own mines.

A senior Chadian officer said that accurate intelligence on Libyan forces provided by the United States and France helped greatly in the recent Chadian victories.

“Both the French and the Americans have satellites which provide photographs of extraordinary definition,” the officer said.

“For several years now, both countries have provided us with detailed information obtained from these photographs. It was invaluable to us in our offensive against the Libyans because we learned almost immediately of all major Libyan troop concentrations and movements.”