Chad mission green lighted to leave in weeks

IRISH troops will be on their way to Africa within weeks on a European Union mission to protect refugees fleeing bloodshed in the Darfur region of Sudan.

The UN-approved deployment, which has been delayed by two months, was given the go-ahead yesterday after the French army agreed to provide helicopters and Italy pledged a field hospital.

An advance party of about 60 Irish Army rangers, engineers and mechanics will head out to Chad in the first week in February. Chad neighbours Darfur and has been flooded with refugees.