To remove this threat, Habré ordered Djamous to take 2,000 troops and destroy the main Libyan airbase in southern Libya, Maaten al-Sarra, 60 miles north of the Chadian-Libyan border. Habré may also have been encouraged in this raid by French President François Mitterrand's public declaration on September 3 that the Red Line was obsolete and thus French troops in Chad would no longer be bound by it.
To counter this menace, Habré assigned Djamous to dispatch 2,000 troops and destroy the key Libyan airbase at Maaten al-Sarra, situated 60 miles north of the Chadian-Libyan border. Habré might have been bolstered by French President François Mitterrand's announcement on September 3 that the Red Line was obsolete, which would allow French forces in Chad to operate freely.