Mobs loot UN warehouses in eastern Chad
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) hn.

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