France has started the withdrawal of its military from Chad with the departure of two warplanes that were based in the capital N'Djamena, the French army said, two weeks after Chad said it was ending its defence cooperation pact with Paris.

France has started pulling out its military assets from Chad, the latest sign of its declining influence across its former African colonies. On Tuesday, two Mirage fighter jets arrived in France from N’Djamena,

The decision by Chad is another blow to what remained of France’s military influence in the troubled stretch of countries below the Sahara, where Russia’s influence has been growing.