UAE aid team opens second underground well in Chad

A UAE aid team in Chad has opened a second well in Amdjarass city as part of a humanitarian project to provide clean drinking water.

The team completed all drilling and equipment preparations for the 180-metre well, which has pumps and generators.

The well, one of several to be dug in the region, will supply more than 200 litres of potable water an hour to the residents of four villages in the Kogo region, which has faced a shortage of clean water.

The inauguration was attended by representatives of the Emirati humanitarian team, which included the Emirates Red Crescent, the Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation, the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation and the Office for the Co-ordination of Foreign Aid, state news agency Wam reported.

In recent months, the UAE has provided food supplies, tents and medical assistance for thousands of Sudanese refugees in Chad who fled conflict in their homeland following the outbreak of war in April.

In August, the UAE opened a second foreign aid co-ordination office in Chad.

As part of its support efforts, the Emirati team has distributed 200 food baskets to several villages close to Amdjarass city, including basic food items.

In July, the UAE opened a field hospital in the eastern city to bolster health services battling to treat the influx of refugees.

Staff at the hospital have treated more than 9,000 patients and performed 116 different operations since it opened.

The site has been equipped with intensive care equipment and solar-powered lighting systems.

The UAE has also provided a boys' school, girls' school and primary school for Sudanese children.

The Sudanese conflict began when long-simmering tensions between the military, under the leadership of Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Gen Mohamed Dagalo, erupted into full-scale war.

Last month, the UAE warned that Sudan was experiencing a humanitarian crisis that threatened to affect the region.

The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF has resulted in thousands of deaths and forced more than five million from their homes. About a million of those displaced have fled to neighbouring countries, including Egypt, South Sudan and Chad.

Peace talks between the warring sides resumed last week in Jeddah, an effort aimed at securing a ceasefire deal and the delivery of humanitarian aid, Reuters reported on Sunday.

Previous US and Saudi attempts to mediate in the war yielded only brief truces that were systematically breached.