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Mobs loot UN warehouses in eastern Chad |
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MIL-CHAD-UN-LOOTING Mobs loot UN warehouses in eastern Chad
GENEVA, Nov 27 (KUNA) -- The UN refugee agency appealed for the rapid
restoration of order in volatile eastern Chad following weekend unrest in
which mobs looted warehouses storing vital aid supplies for hundreds of
thousands of Darfurian refugees and Chadians.
In a joint statement with the World Food Prgram (WFP), UNHCR said that the
main warehouses of the two agencies in the eastern Chad town of Abeche, the
hub for relief efforts for 218,000 refugees from Sudan's neighboring Darfur
region and some 90,000 internally displaced Chadians, had been pillaged
reportedly by local residents during the turmoil on Saturday and Sunday.
Abeche was occupied by rebel forces on Saturday, and then re-taken by
government troops on Sunday.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said that there are more
than 300,000 uprooted people in 12 refugee camps and various sites for
internally displaced Chadians who are almost totally dependent on outside help
from WFP, UNHCR and partners.
"Chadian host communities also get help from us. The loss of our main
stockpiles for the eastern region and the restrictions on our staff because of
continuing insecurity are jeopardizing that fragile lifeline," he added.
Initial reports from WFP staff indicated a total of 483 metric tones of
food valued at about USD 500,000 had been looted from its warehouse in the
center of Abeche. Another WFP warehouse on the outskirts of town was
untouched.
UNHCR's heavily looted warehouse contained about USD 1.3 million worth of
relief items ranging from blankets, tents and plastic sheeting to stoves,
kitchen sets, medical supplies, communications gear, and water purification
and storage equipment all essential supplies for running the remote refugee
camps along a 600-km stretch of eastern Chad near the Sudanese border.
Inventories were being carried out Monday to determine what remained, but an
estimated 80 percent of supplies had been looted. (end)
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