The movement was founded by Youssouf Togoïmi, Déby's former Defense Minister, and operated primarily in Bourkou-Ennedi-Tibesti and the Tibesti Mountains.

Though MDJT fought mostly against the Chadian Military, they were accused of assassinating the President of an opposition party in 1999, but no evidence supports this claim.

Togoïmi died in September 2002 in a Libyan hospital from injuries he had received a few days earlier when his truck hit a landmine.

The movement was similar in where it got its members, the Chadian military, and goals, overthrow of President Déby, to the later Platform for Change, Unity and Democracy.

Amid the ongoing insurgency in Chad, it and other rebel groups conducted peace talks with the Chadian government in March 2022.