If Irish troops eventually get to Chad, what will be their responsibilities? Tom Clonanexplains.
French sources insist that Eufor, the Irish-led EU military mission to Chad and the Central African Republic, will go ahead, aiming for operational readiness by March 10th.
By then, Eufor will have had to establish three operational zones in eastern Chad with patrol bases and landing strips for over 3,000 troops, over 400 of them Irish. To this end, Eufor have already begun the task of extending two major airports in Chad, one at the capital Ndjamena and the other at Abeche, just 150 kilometres from the Chad/Sudan border region of Darfur.
Late last night, senior military sources at Eufor's headquarters in Paris said that despite the fighting in the Chadian capital, the French military intended to continue to hold and defend these airports, terming them "vital French strategic assets".
Eufor is to take control of a 320,000sq km corridor, about 800km long and 400km wide, running parallel to Chad's border with Darfur. This area will be split into three zones.
The northern zone will be held by Polish troops, the central zone by French troops. The southern zone, stretching south from Goz-Beida on the central plain of Chad to its borders with Sudan and the Central African Republic, will be occupied by Irish troops.
By deploying as many French troops as possible into one single deployment zone and the remainder into administrative and support tasks to the rear force headquarters in Ndjamena, it is hoped that the local population will not see Eufor as a predominantly French force.
Irish troops will be further distinguished on sight through a decision to wear bush-green combat uniforms. Irish troops in central Africa in the mid-1990s wore desert-pattern combat uniforms, similar to those worn now by French troops in Chad.
Irish troops will also wear the standard Irish Army headgear and insignia. In addition to this, all Irish troops will wear Irish Tricolour identification patches prominently.
"The idea is, that when you transit through Goz-Beida, you'll be in no doubt that you are in an Irish controlled area. There will be more Irish flags on display than in Croke Park on an All-Ireland Sunday," said one senior Irish officer.
Despite the vast area to be patrolled by a relatively small force of Irish troops, senior officers are confident that the Irish "will have the capability to influence the situation in the Irish sector and will create a positive sense of security".
Military surveillance aircraft and unmanned drones will be deployed to the Irish sector on a 24-hour basis to detect any bandits, rebels or Islamist militias.
"We'll know where the armed elements are located and the concept is that our patrols will frustrate all attempts to approach or interfere with the refugee camps," said the senior officer.
The Irish can call in French helicopter gunships if needed.
The Irish troops will be split into three company-sized formations of about 120 soldiers and deployed to patrol bases located close to existing refugee camps throughout their sector.
In the event of casualties, Irish troops can be evacuated to an Italian field hospital with surgical teams to be established in the coming weeks at Abeche. From Abeche, the more seriously injured could be airlifted to a European hospital within approximately seven hours.
Despite fighting in Ndjamena, many experienced French officers are phlegmatic about the risks in Chad. After 22 years operating in the country, the French contend that Eufor can expect to lose some troops to helicopter accidents, road traffic accidents, accidental shootings and perhaps from skirmishes with rebels.
For the time being however, the top three medical risks in Chad for Eufor remain heatstroke, malaria and syphilis/HIV. Whether this continues to be the case remains to be seen.