Army in Africa

Ireland responded immediately to last week's decision by the United Nations Security Council to authorise deployment of a European…

Ireland responded immediately to last week's decision by the United Nations Security Council to authorise deployment of a European Union force in Chad and the Central African Republic. The Cabinet has agreed in principle that up to 350 Irish troops can join the planned 3,000-strong force there.

They will provide armed protection and aid to 500,000 refugees and internally displaced people in the two states, most of them victims of the Darfur tragedy in neighbouring Sudan.

This is a challenging and testing assignment which has been authorised under the peace-enforcing Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. The 12 border camps where most of the people concerned live are in remote areas with precarious access to food, water and security. They are harassed by intruders from Sudan, as well as by rebel groups from Chad and the Central African Republic in dispute with their governments. The operation's timetable is planned to coincide with forthcoming Sudanese peace talks to be held in Libya intended to resolve the Darfur conflict. Alongside the EU force a larger UN and African Union one will be deployed to protect the 200,000 population in the Darfur refugee camps, which will have a less robust mandate.

An Army reconnaissance unit is due in the area soon to plan out the Irish assignment. Troops are expected to come from the battlegroup training with other EU armies, in the Irish case with Sweden and Austria. They are available largely because recent operations in Liberia and Lebanon have been completed, relieving pressure on numbers. But most of the other troops will be French, drawn from the existing military deployment from that country currently providing support for Chad and Central African Republic government forces. This has been very much a French initiative, reflecting president Nicolas Sarkozy's strong commitment to relieving Darfur and his foreign minister Bernard Kouchner's support for humanitarian intervention.

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Therein lies some of the difficulty. Already there has been some criticism of the plan on the basis that rebel groups in both states may not distinguish between the bilateral French troops and those in the EU force. Protecting the specific EU mandate will be part of the detailed rules of engagement that have yet to be agreed.

Ireland brings long experience of African conflicts and peacekeeping assignments to this venture, from the Congo through Somalia, Eritrea and Western Sahara. Most recently Irish troops operated very successfully in Liberia, in more difficult circumstances than here. Their UN credentials are very well established.