WARSAW, Poland, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- The Polish military command Friday said a contingent of 350 soldiers and army employees including doctors will be deployed in Chad by mid-2008.
The Polish contingent will serve as part of European Union logistics support in the central-north African country, Polish Radio reported.
The Polish Rzeczpospolita daily, quoting the army command, said preliminary troops including logistics experts and physicians are to arrive in Chad in March and April, and main forces should be deployed in mid-May.
The Poles are to reach full combat readiness in June when they are to begin patrolling and protecting international relief convoys.
Days after taking the office in mid-November, liberal pro-EU Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced Poland would dispatch a military mission to Chad.
Tusk plans to withdraw 900 Polish troops from Iraq in 2008, but he will maintain 1,200 Polish soldiers in Afghanistan.
