The deployment of 54 Irish peacekeepers for Chad appears threatened by further heavy fighting around the capital N'Djamena today with the European Union now monitoring the situation hour by hour.
A spokesman for the Irish Defence Forces said the decision will be decided on the basis of events over the coming 72 hours. The postponement was due to fighting around the capital, N'Djamena.
He told ireland.comthe deployment of the troops is being discussed between EU Operational HQ in Paris, Abeche (Chad) and Dublin, but with the closure of the airport and the fighting around the capital, the situation is now "acute".
Defence Forces spokesman
The eight Defence Forces personnel deployed in N'Djamena and Abeche are said to be "safe and well".
The 54 Irish troops were to make up the first batch of 450 Irish military personnel embarking on peacekeeping and refugee-protection duties in Chad. The troops were diverted back to McKee Barracks yesterday while they were en route to Dublin airport.
They were to be stationed at Abeche as part of the UN-mandated, Eufor Chad/CAR, the European Union military mission to Chad and the Central African Republic, headed by Ireland's Lieut-Gen Pat Nash.
"Events to date will not require any delay in our main deployment in the coming months," the army spokesman said.
Chad's army fought to drive off rebels who pushed to within 100 km (60 miles) of the capital N'Djamena today and the clashes delayed the deployment of European peacekeepers to the African country.
In contradictory versions of the fighting, Chad's interior minister said the Sudan-backed rebels had been defeated and put to flight, while the insurgents said they were still driving towards N'Djamena after destroying dozens of army vehicles.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who was visiting Kenya today, said in a statement he was deeply concerned by the resumed fighting in Chad and expressed his "condemnation of the use of military means to seize power".
The rebels appeared to be seeking a quick military victory before the EU troop deployment. They have previously threatened to attack the European force if it interferes in their campaign against President Idriss Deby. EU commanders have pledged not to take sides.
France's military, which has Mirage jets and around 1,000 soldiers stationed in Chad under a bilateral defence treaty, said the clashes took place between Massaguet and Massakory, around 100 km (60 miles) northeast of the capital.
"The column of mercenaries in the pay of Sudan ... has been completely put to flight ... the battle is over, it's finished, we're in pursuit," Chadian territorial administration (Interior) Minister Ahmat Mahamat Bachir told Radio France International.
A spokesman for the rebels, Abderamane Koulamallah, gave a different version to RFI, saying it was the government side which had pulled back to Massaguet, 78 km (49 miles) from the capital on the main northeast road into the city.
No independent confirmation of the outcome of this morning's fighting, which was reported to be fierce and involve exchanges of heavy weapons fire, was immediately available.
Up to 3,700 European Union troops were due to arrive in coming weeks on an urgent peacekeeping mission to eastern Chad, but anti-government rebels pre-empted the deployment with a lightning offensive this week towards the capital in the west.
An EU spokesman said the "increased instability" meant the deployment of the first European troops was being delayed.
"At the moment we don't want to blow this out of proportion, but yes, a flight of Irish troops yesterday and two flights today have been postponed," the spokesman said in Brussels.
A rebel leader, Timane Erdimi, called on President Deby to negotiate an immediate power-sharing deal or face an attack on N'Djamena by the rebels, who had raced in a column of 300 vehicles from the eastern border with Sudan's war-torn Darfur.
Tanks blocked off roads leading to the presidential palace.
Foreign embassies in the capital of the former French colony were advising their nationals to stay at home and avoid travel.
The European peacekeepers, around half from France, were due to deploy in Chad's east in coming weeks to protect hundreds of thousands of refugees from violence spilling over from Darfur.
Chadian rebels have previously threatened to attack the European force if it interferes in their campaign against Deby, although European commanders have pledged not to take sides.
Tawanda Hondora, deputy director of Amnesty International's Africa Programme said: "Government forces and armed groups must refrain from any actions that would endanger civilians."
"This standoff risks severely undermining the deployment of the EUFOR force, which in turn will leave the civilian population without protection," Hondora said.
"The current escalation is threatening the full and complete deployment of EUFOR - putting the lives of civilians at further risk."
Additional reporting Reuters