EUFOR was attacked by Sudan helicopters last November – Belgian minister

February 8, 2009 (BRUSSELS) – Sudanese attack helicopters destroyed two peacekeeping vehicles in eastern Chad last November, according to testimony given by the Belgian Defense Minister.

The vehicles belonged to Belgian special forces serving with EUFOR Tchad/RCA, a European Union peacekeeping force deployed under the auspices of a UN Security Council mandate.

EUFOR is tasked with protecting civilians in refugee camps in eastern Chad, which host more than 290,000 refugees from Sudan’s strife-wracked Darfur region and over 180,000 internally displaced Chadians. The mission is drawing down forces and will be replaced by a UN force in March.

Questioned in parliament, Belgian Defense Minister Pieter de Creme recounted that the attack on the Belgian peacekeepers took place November 17 at 11:00 a.m. in Chadian territory only 1200 meters from the border with Sudan, according to a Belgian news source

No one was injured in the air assault.

De Creme detailed that two Sudanese attack helicopters flew over the patrol three times at a very low altitude before firing rockets at the vehicles on a fourth pass.

Although the shots did not hit the vehicles themselves, they set fire to the surrounding vegetation and the ensuing blaze destroyed the vehicles, said the minister.

A JEM source confirmed the Belgian minister’s report and a European Union official said that he will lodge a complaint against Sudan at the UN.

Sudan’s forces patrol the Chad-Darfur border in a bid to halt movement across it by rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), which draws supplies and recruits from within Chad.

While significant fighting with JEM forces took place in Chad and near the border during the last dry season, this January the rebels clashed with Sudan’s forces much farther east, near the capitals of North and South Darfur.

The 14-nation EUFOR mission of 3,700 troops began deploying to Chad and the Central African Republic in February 2008 after a delay caused by a rebel assault on the Chadian capital at the time.

In March 2008, Sudanese troops killed a French soldier from EUFOR after he inadvertently crossed the border and vanished inside the war-torn region of Darfur.

The Belgian military chief departs Tuesday for a tour of several African countries, beginning in Chad, where he will visit Belgian forces based in Abeche, a main town in the east.
(ST)