December 13, 2007: More
refugee camps are cut off by rebel activity. Armed men, who may be rebels or
bandits, are showing up on the roads the relief supply convoys use. When this
happens, the relief convoys don't, because the guys with guns will loot or
steal the trucks full of food and other supplies. The NGO relief groups are
demanding that the 3,500 European peacekeepers get here fast. But because of a
lack of helicopters, the arrival of the peacekeepers has been put off until
next month. The peacekeepers might not even show up in January, as some of the
contributing nations are becoming alarmed at how dangerous the situation is.
And no one has sufficient helicopters and transport aircraft to contribute. The
recent flare up in violence was a shock, as the rebels had just recently signed
a peace deal. But that's happened before, and will happen again. Rebellion is
the normal state in Chad, and it's gotten worse now that there's oil wealth to
fight over.
