# Zouar, Chad

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{{Infobox settlement 
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|official_name = Zouar
|other_name = 
|native_name = {{lang|ar|زوار}}<!-- for cities whose native name is not in English --> 
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|subdivision_type = Country 
|subdivision_name = {{flag|Chad}} 
|subdivision_type1 = [Region](/source/Regions_of_Chad)
|subdivision_name1 = [Tibesti](/source/Tibesti_Region)
|subdivision_type2 = [Department](/source/Departments_of_Chad) 
|subdivision_name2 = [Tibesti Ouest](/source/Tibesti_Ouest) 
|subdivision_type3 = [Sub-Prefecture](/source/Sub-prefectures_of_Chad)
|subdivision_name3 = Zouar
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'''Zouar''' ({{langx|ar|زوار}}) is a town in the [Tibesti Ouest](/source/Tibesti_Ouest) [department](/source/Departments_of_Chad) of the [Tibesti](/source/Tibesti_Region) [region](/source/Regions_of_Chad) in northern [Chad](/source/Chad), located in an [oasis](/source/oasis) in the [Tibesti Mountains](/source/Tibesti_Mountains). Prior to 2008 it was in the [Tibesti Department](/source/Tibesti_Department) of the former [Bourkou-Ennedi-Tibesti region](/source/Bourkou-Ennedi-Tibesti_region).

The seat of the ''[derde](/source/derde)'', the highest religious and political authority among the [Teda](/source/Teda_people) of the Tibesti, the town came under [French control](/source/French_colonial_empires) in 1917.<ref>{{cite book|author=Azevedo, Mario J.|author-link=Mario Azevedo|title=Roots of Violence: A History of War in Chad|publisher=[Routledge](/source/Routledge)|year=1998|isbn=90-5699-582-0|page=71}}</ref>

After Chad's independence, Zouar played an important role during the [Chadian Civil War](/source/Civil_war_in_Chad_(1965%E2%80%931979)) and the [Chadian-Libyan conflict](/source/Chadian-Libyan_conflict), when its control was hotly contended. It was first besieged in 1968 by the [FROLINAT](/source/FROLINAT) rebels led by Mahamat Ali Taher, and was relieved only by the arrival in August of a French expeditionary force.<ref>{{cite book|author=Nolutshungu, Sam C.|author-link=Sam Nolutshungu|title=Limits of Anarchy: Intervention and State Formation in Chad|publisher=University of Virginia Press|year=1995|isbn=0-8139-1628-3|page=69}}</ref> One of the last strongholds held by the government in the north, it was attacked in June 1977 by the [People's Armed Forces](/source/People's_Armed_Forces) (FAP), forcing the garrison to evacuate.<ref>{{cite journal| author = Buijtenhuijs, Rob| title = Le FROLINAT à l'épreuve du pouvoir: L'échec d'une révolution Africaine| journal = Politique Africaine| issue = 16| pages = 16–17| date = December 1984| url = http://www.politique-africaine.com/numeros/pdf/016015.pdf| format = PDF}}</ref>

During the [Chadian-Libyan conflict](/source/Chadian-Libyan_conflict), a Libyan garrison was installed, only to be expelled when the former pro-Libyan FAP rebelled in the Tibesti in August 1986; but the town was reconquered with the Libyan counter-offensive in December. In January 1987 the [Chadian army](/source/FANT) once and for all freed Zouar.<ref>{{cite book|author=Pollack, Kenneth M.|author-link=Kenneth Pollack|title=Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948&ndash;1991|publisher=[University of Nebraska Press](/source/University_of_Nebraska_Press)|year=2002|isbn=0-8032-3733-2|page=390}}</ref>

In October 1998, with the foundation of the insurgent [Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad](/source/Movement_for_Democracy_and_Justice_in_Chad) (MDJT), civil war has erupted again in the north.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/chad/why.aspx |title=Why a War in Chad |access-date=2006-12-30 |archive-date=2007-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222073118/http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/chad/why.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> The MDJT commander, [Youssouf Togoimi](/source/Youssouf_Togoimi), announced in June 1999 that his forces were in a position to take Zouar and [Bardaï](/source/Barda%C3%AF%2C_Chad), but preferred to wait for the government troops to surrender.<ref>{{cite news | title = IRIN Update 481 for 8 June| publisher = [IRIN](/source/The_New_Humanitarian)| date = 1999-06-08| url = http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Newsletters/irinw481.html}}</ref> On 18 March 2006 the MDJT started besieging the town.<ref>[http://www.tchadnews.info/temoignage_de_ndjamena.htm Mardi 18 avril 2006:  Temoignage de Ndjamena] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927071824/http://www.tchadnews.info/temoignage_de_ndjamena.htm |date=September 27, 2007 }}</ref>

Zouar is also the birthplace of the former [Head of State](/source/Heads_of_state_of_Chad) [Goukouni Oueddei](/source/Goukouni_Oueddei)<ref>{{cite book|author=Jessup, John E.|title=An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Conflict and Conflict Resolution, 1945-1996|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=1998|page=554|isbn=0-313-28112-2}}</ref> and of the [MDJT](/source/MDJT) founder Youssouf Togoimi,<ref>{{cite news | author = Djonabaye, Dieudonné | title = Youssouf Togoïmi : la mort d'un rebelle| publisher = [RFI](/source/Radio_France_Internationale)| url =http://www.rfi.fr/actufr/articles/033/article_18166.asp}}</ref> respectively born in 1944 and 1953.

The town is served by [Zouar Airport](/source/Zouar_Airport).

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* https://web.archive.org/web/20111022042915/http://www.zouar.net/

Category:Populated places in Chad
Category:Tibesti (region)
Category:Oases of Chad
Category:Tibesti Mountains

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Zouar, Chad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zouar%2C_Chad) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zouar%2C_Chad?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.