(LIBREVILLE) - The European Union Force (EUFOR) sent to protect Darfur refugees in Chad and Central African Republic is deploying smoothly, a commander from the force told AFP Thursday.

There are 1,770 troops currently on the ground, from a total planned force of 3,700 due to be operational by the end of June. Some 18 nationalities are represented.

"The deployment... and the patrols operations and securitisation are underway in a satisfactory manner. From now on, insecurity reigns among the wrongdoers," said Lieutenant-Colonel Jean Axelos by telephone from Libreville.

"There hasn't been a single clash. There have been no problems, nor any major difficulty since the beginning of the mission (mid-March)," he said.

"EUFOR soldiers on routine patrols have sometimes come across these wrongdoers, who have fled," he added, specifying that these encounters had occurred entirely in Chad.

Axelos, a French officer, declined to give details of the activities of the "wrongdoers," but indicated attempts at extortion.

"Our welcome by the locals is good. The locals are happy with our work," he added.

Separately on Thursday the Central African Republic signed the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) setting out the rules of engagement under which the EUFOR troops can operate.

Around 175 troops are expected to arrive next week from Ireland, as part of the EUFOR build-up.

EUFOR began its mission on March 17, already months behind schedule after lengthy negotiations within the EU over contributions, plus the rebel offensive in Chad against the capital Ndjamena which attempted to overthrow the regime of President Idriss Deby Itno.

The EUFOR mission was authorised under a UN Security Council resolution in 2007, aimed principally at protecting the Darfur refugees from Sudan in eastern Chad and northeast Central African Republic, as well as the internally displaced Chadians and Central Africans, who number 450,000.

The European operation will also give assistance to the UN mission in Chad and Central Africa (MINURCAT), which has 300 instructors training local police officers to secure the refugee camps.

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