Irish troops in Chad in race against time to set up camp

IRISH troops arriving in Chad face a race against time to establish their presence before the rainy season turns their baking desert home into a sea of mud.

A further 180 soldiers arrived in the east of the country yesterday to begin a four-month tour of duty protecting 400,000 refugees fleeing conflict in the neighbouring Darfur region of Sudan and 250,000 Chadians displaced by fighting in their border communities.

The job of the group, part of the European Union’s force in Chad (EUFOR), is to maintain stability but they have a mandate to return fire if needed.