Peacekeepers slated for Chad

NDJAMENA, Chad, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Humanitarian officials in Chad say new international peacekeeping forces must remain separate from relief efforts or risk undermining them.

European Union and United Nations forces are about to deploy in Chad in an attempt to protect hundreds of thousands of people from armed criminals, militias, rebels and other violent forces in place in the African nation.

"Understanding the distinction between the terms 'neutrality' and 'impartiality' is particularly crucial in this type of conflict," Thomas Merkelbach, head of the International Committee for the Red Cross in Chad, told the U.N. Integrated Regional Information Network.

Merkelbach said some officials with the EU forces and U.N. mission did not seem to appreciate the difference.

"I keep hearing officials using the terms interchangeably," Merkelbach said.

However, EU forces told the information network it intends to keep security operations separate from the relief organizations.

"We might need to have an airstrip or bridge built for logistical reasons, which humanitarians may also end up using," EUFOR Lt. Col. Patrick Poulain told the network. "But our mandate is to provide security and if we succeed at that then that's all the hearts and minds we need to get the population on our side."