Polish woman rescued in Chad. Crises show the importance of alliances [COMMENTARY]

First of all, let us note that the Polish General Staff used its social media to express appreciation and thanks to French soldiers whose actions, as was emphasized, led to the release of Polish citizens kidnapped in Chad. Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, also via social media, noted that the freed Polish woman had already returned home. At the same time, they publicly thanked the Minister of Public Security and Immigration, General M. Ch. Margui, for leading the release operation and soldiers and officers of Chad’s armed forces and security structures for professional, effective, and quick action.

Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz stated that my greatest thanks go to the French Minister of Defense, Sebastien Lecornu, and the French soldiers, thanks to whom the Pole regained her freedom. Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski also commented on the whole matter, announcing that he thanked the head of diplomacy of Chad, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, for helping to release a Polish doctor kidnapped from a hospital in Dono Manga. He congratulated the armed forces and police of Chad for the daring rescue of the citizen from the hands of her kidnappers. Earlier, just after his release, he stated that he thanked the local forces and our French allies for their actions.

A complicated and risky special operation

There was likely a complex combined operation in Chad that must have involved several French and Chadian entities. We must emphasize the critical fact here that, as in every situation of this type, the actions of our allies (France) and partners (Chad) had to take place in close relations with the Poles. It probably considers the complicated dimension of such a case on several levels, i.e., political, diplomatic, intelligence, and military, and highlights the state’s tools, which must always be diplomacy, the army, and intelligence. From this perspective, we need to mention building lines of personal relations, e.g., in the dimension of bilateral ties with strategic partners, in this case, France. All this is necessary for crisis response when, in addition to introducing procedures, one must look for solutions, often unconventional and behind the scenes.

For now, it is difficult to determine specific details of the retaking of Poland from a military perspective, which is a natural thing during special operations. However, fragments in the previous official statements of Polish ministers are essential, especially the phrase „bravura rebound” and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement that „an exchange of fire occurred.” It probably means that the final stage of the mission involved taking a significant risk both for the kidnapped person and those carrying out the rescue mission. An exchange of fire is always a key challenge for the person being deflected, who may find himself caught in the crossfire due to other factors resulting from the high dynamics of this type of operation. At the same time, as it were conventional, we must not be offended that we are still left in a large area of speculation. First and foremost, this protects specific tactical solutions that could potentially be relevant to other crises.

It is also vital to secure operational work methods, especially before the entry into operation of special units dedicated to the rescue of hostages. However, based on previous examples of similar missions known to us, it must be recognized that if military(police) force was used in the event of a hostage being kidnapped, there could have been a real threat to his life and health. We must point out that this type of risk is most often taken after exhausting other tools that could lead to the release of the kidnapped person. To put it simply, sending commandos (police or military) as the first response to a kidnapping is only visible in scripts for sensational movies. Such narratives about the primacy of special operations ignore, among others, the critical role of behind-the-scenes activities with local residents, religious and political communities, and even within the previously identified underworld engaged in, for example, kidnapping for ransom. It concerns the extremely important but, unfortunately, always overshadowed cooperation and intelligence work.

Hence, the words of thanks to the French and the Chadian authorities include thanks not only to those carrying out the mission but also to the intelligence officers securing it (DGSE or DRM). Help must be considered, for example, in intelligence data from SIGINT sources of other allied entities. Of course, it was necessary (even with all the controversy) to get help from Chad’s The Agence nationale de sécurité (ANS) and police sources there. Not to mention the strategic role of negotiators, whose experience often determines the mission’s success and the kidnapped people’s safety, we can see that even just connecting the entities involved and maintaining efficient communication is always a strategically important area of activity of the secret services. Therefore, let us remember to congratulate those who will never be able to officially claim them in the context of this and other known or undisclosed crises involving kidnapped people.

Kidnappings are a real threat to Poles in regions of high instability

We should alsomote that the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (in the voice of spokesman Paweł Wroński) provided several details relating to the kidnapping. The attackers took advantage of the weak security of the hospital and, using weapons, terrorized, among others, A Polish woman, who was then abducted. The site of the later operation was to be a non-urbanized, heavily forested area, probably located in the south of the country. It is also important to say that they were most likely motivated by criminal motives. Hence, the idea that it might have been about a ransom. But at the same time, in the context of the whole case, it should be pointed out that in unstable places, doctors and medical staff are often targeted by kidnappers due to the specific nature of their work, essential skills, and knowledge about the supply of medicines.

Therefore, the possibility of such crisis situations in the future should be treated as a real challenge for the state and allied relations. Polish volunteers, missionaries, experts, businessmen, and scientists regularly appear in countries and regions torn by tensions. Analogous to thinking about the threats of sea piracy, remembering the famous case of the Szafir ship, and knowing that Polish sailors sail under numerous flags. Returning to the current case, we cannot state directly at this stage that it was ultimately about ransom (most likely) or another motivation. It does not mean, however, that in this region, their intentions could have gone towards seeking contact with people or groups motivated by ideological factors. It could pose a direct threat to the Polish woman due to her experience with the attitudes of, for example, terrorists towards kidnapped people, where even executions were possible.

At this point, we must answer why cooperation with France played an important role. First of all, in the context of this part of Africa, the French side is the largest specialist in local relations in Europe; it has extensive ability to understand the issues necessary in terms of searching for kidnapped people, but also in preparing operations and identifying factors required to implement the mission. Mainly since the main French base in Chad is located in the capital, N’Djamena, where the strategic airport infrastructure stands out. Special forces and the support of allies must know about the weaknesses of road traffic and the possibility of quick transfer of, e.g., operators from Europe, not to mention the basing of machines performing support missions and reconnaissance or intelligence (ISR).

Two other locations available on the French side are Faya-Largeau and Abéché. Chad is still a strategic link between France and the situation in this region of Africa, so it is not without reason that resources were evacuated there from countries affected by anti-French sentiments based on internal unrest(coup d«état) and external factors, i.e., Russian actions. The transfer of resources from Niger to Chad after the military junta authorities broke off cooperation with the French in the fight against Islamist terrorists in the region was symbolic.

France is a proven and reliable ally in this region of Africa

Therefore, it was natural that our European ally could afford a broader range of actions in the event of a crisis in Chad and in a shorter time than if Poland intended to do everything on its own. And most importantly, we are not talking about any shortcomings on the Polish side or a reason for fear or doubt. Let us remember that this is why we operate in a defensive alliance; this is why we are building unique relations between Paris and Warsaw to count on our allies in times of crisis. It is equally important when we think about cooperation on NATO’s eastern flank and rescuing Polish citizens in Africa.

We should remember that such actions are and have been undertaken in the past also by Poland for the benefit of its allies and partners, as evidenced by the professionally conducted, often hazardous operations of Polish special unit operators in Afghanistan. But it can be safely assumed that there were more examples of unknown Polish actions for the benefit of allies, e.g., rescuing kidnapped people, than those known to the public. Being in a defensive alliance such as NATO, countries can trust each other in crises politically and militarily, especially since they know what they can afford. We see this especially in the context of, for example, cooperation between special operations forces. Operators from Poland have made a name for themselves throughout NATO and in the various regions where exercises are conducted. However, the same can be said about the French.

Moreover, France is one of those countries, along with the USA and Great Britain, that is characterized by the synergy of military and intelligence tools necessary in such a crisis and the ability to protect them. Breaking it down into parts, the French secret services (DGSE and possibly the military DRM) are more focused on Africa, which results from a more extensive network of economic interests and the scale of the presence of French citizens in this region. Military presence and cooperation with Chad also means better preparation of special forces and other military resources regarding interoperability in action (communication, coordination for specific elements of tactical operations).

French officers know the key people in Chad’s security and defense apparatus better. The French also have one of the best satellite reconnaissance systems (SATINT), being a country among the elite of space solutions. Not to mention seeing local realities, from the specificity of communication routes to topography.

A good object lesson in what Polish-French rapprochement is

Simply put, France is there, and it is our strategic ally. A separate topic worth a broader analysis is the structure of French special operations forces, spread over tactical units from various types of troops and supported by reserves deployed in seemingly more conventional formations. Coordinating special operations forces with officers and intelligence officers, diplomats, and allied liaison officers are engaging. He drew attention to this fact, among others: Laurent Bansept in one of his analyzes for L’Institut français des relations internationales ( Ifri ). So, we are talking about a situation in which the safety of a kidnapped Polish citizen was in the hands of a proven partner with the necessary resources. One can only wonder whether we can see a more accurate operation picture.

In conclusion, we must recognize that the success of freeing the Polish citizens in Chad should be seen broadly from several perspectives. First of all, we should note that such threats are present in different regions and should be considered when constructing the state’s resources (intelligence, diplomacy, military). But at the same time, you should know that there will not always be a requirement or possibility to act with your national resources because Poland is not a strategic autonomy but a proven member of NATO and the EU. We can trust our allies in crises and their ability to act or help us there. The alliance is being built from NATO’s eastern flank to rescue citizens in Africa, from the possibility of evacuation to intelligence cooperation. It is a valuable lesson about an important strategic partnership with France. In the near future, the Polish side may be able to help some Frenchmen, but this is always the best lesson in investing in allied relations and seeing the specific economy of participation in alliances.