Belgium Wednesday took over the command of the special forces of the European Union Peacekeeping mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (EUFOR), an official source revealed. Belgium will head the EUFOR command until 15 March 2009, the date when the European force in Chad and the CAR is expected to be replaced by UN troops. With 3,700 soldiers, EUFOR, under the command of Irish General Patrick Nash, is tasked to secure the camps of Sudanese, Chadian and Central African refugees who fled the fighting in Sudan’s western region of Darfur. According to aid organisations, Chad is hosting 12 camps where some 400,000 Sudanese refugees are living as well as 200,000 Chadian and Central African displaced persons, according to figures by humanitarian organisations operating in the region.
