UN agencies scaling back in east as insecurity grows

As the Chadian capital N'djamena braces itself for a possible second night of fighting on Thursday the lack of reliable information about security conditions in the east of the country has forced humanitarian operations to evacuate staff. "It's the most prudent course of action given the level of insecurity and the fact that there have been attacks in N'djamena today," said World Food Programme spokesman Marcus Prior in Dakar. "It's not a complete evacuation. We still have a significant presence in N'djamena and the east and as soon as the situation improves we have capacity to continue." There are some quarter of a million refugees from Sudan's troubled Darfur region and displaced Chadians in eastern Chad, making it one of the world's humanitarian hot-spots. WFP had repeatedly warned that an escalation of trouble in the country would have a negative impact on their operations. On Thursday afternoon, gunfire was heard in the eastern border town of Adre - the main crossing point into the Darfur region from Chad. The situation remained tense but calm in N'djamena after fierce dawn fighting on the outskirts of the city and near Parliament in the city centre tailed off around 9 a.m. Exact details about the number, location and strength of forces opposed to the government have remained obscured since rebel forces opposed to Chad President Idriss Deby started a lightning-fast dash across the vast desert country at the weekend. Spokespeople for the rebel movements have said there are more waves of fighters approaching N'djamena, but this has not been independently confirmed. "We're fumbling around in the dark here, which is a very big concern," said an aid worker based in the eastern town of Abeche who asked not to be named. "It's very hard to get a clear picture of what is going on". The UN, which has already evacuated non-essential staff from N'djamena to Yaounde in Cameroon, announced to staff on Thursday afternoon that non-essential personnel from field stations in the east would be evacuated on Saturday morning, said UN employees in Chad. A convoy of 150 aid workers from outlying areas in the east gathered in Abeche late Thursday in readiness for their departure, said an aid worker. The UN refugee agency UNHCR, which on Tuesday pulled staff back from two refugee camps in the east after one of the camps was occupied overnight by rebel fighters, is also pulling staff out of its Forshana field office, an hour's drive from Adre. That office supports four camps in the region, and a nearby sub-office at Guereda. "A lot of people are anxious to stay and see things through as all we've heard so far [from other colleagues in the east] is that things are calm," said the aid worker in Abeche. The UN Security Council discussed the situation in Chad on Thursday and expressed concern about the attacks by armed groups, said Security Council President Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya in a statement. The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said in a statement he was "greatly troubled by the worsening security situation in Chad" and "strongly condemns any attempts to seize power by force or other unconstitutional means". High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres made similar comments on Thursday. "I urgently appeal to all sides in this political upheaval to respect the civilian character of the refugee camps and to leave in peace those who have already fled the terrors of Darfur", said Guterres. The Darfur conflict erupted in early 2003 when the rebels took up arms against the Sudanese government in Khartoum to end what they call the neglect and oppression of the inhabitants of Darfur, western Sudan. The Sudanese government responded by backing Arab militias known as the Janjawid and a series of peace negotiation have failed to bear fruit. UN aid workers have warned that the current instability is a particular threat in eastern Chad which is nearing the end of a short window of opportunity to build up food stocks, before the rainy season makes roads impassable from the end of June.