(LISBON) - The Portuguese army said Thursday it is to provide a C-130 Hercules transport plane and 30 soldiers to the EU peacekeeping force in Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR).

The two-month deployment will leave Montijo, near Lisbon, on Friday night, a general staff statement said.

EUFOR forces will ultimately consist of 3,700 troops with a mandate to protect some 450,000 displaced people from eastern Chad and northwestern CAR as well as Sudanese refugees who have fled the civil war in neighbouring Darfur.

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