Army helps evacuate aid workers

SENIOR IRISH Army officers and French special forces serving in Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR) evacuated a group of aid agency workers during a gun fight with armed militia at the weekend.

The airborne evacuation took place in Birao in the southeast of CAR, one of the more remote regions where the EUfor peace enforcement mission is deployed.

The operation began just after 4am on Saturday when EUfor was made aware of an attack by an unidentified 30-strong armed group on a post in Birao manned by French police serving with EUfor.

The group opened fire as they attempted to steal weapons and ammunition at the police post. Members of the pro-Chadian government UFDR ex-rebel group returned fire.

Two aid agencies in the area contacted EUfor headquarters in Abeche in Chad requesting that their personnel be evacuated immediately.

EUfor's Irish deputy force commander, Col Tom Doyle, along with other Irish officers based in Abeche, took control of the situation. They dispatched three Puma helicopters to the scene carrying members of the French special forces serving with EUfor.

The helicopters first landed at the Irish base in Goz Beida in eastern Chad before making their way into CAR. Under fire in the mountainous region of Birao, they evacuated nine people - three French, one Norwegian and five locals - working for the agencies that had requested assistance.

They also evacuated one UFDR member who had been wounded during the exchange.

Comdt Dan Harvey, an Irish spokesman for EUfor based in Paris, said it was not clear if the armed group were rebels opposed to the regime in Chad or just armed bandits, who are known to roam Chad and CAR. He said the evacuation was evidence EUfor was proving effective in Chad and CAR. EUfor troops have been deployed to both countries, with the main element of the operation based in Chad.

The weekend incident follows a similar attack last month in which French troops serving with EUfor were engaged in a fire fight by armed men in eastern Chad. The Irish were fired on earlier in the year near their Goz Beida base.

Further attacks are expected in the weeks ahead following the end of the rainy season in Chad.

Some 400 Irish troops are deployed with EUfor in Chad. The multinational 3,700-strong force is charged with protecting refugee camps in Chad and CAR filled with hundreds of thousands of people who have fled fighting in nearby Darfur. EUfor is also charged with protecting internally displaced persons and UN and other humanitarian staff and facilities. The 12-month mission is due to expire next March. It will be replaced by a UN blue-beret mission.