(WARSAW) - Poland's defence minister arrived in Chad Saturday to visit Polish troops stationed as part of an EU peacekeeping force in the volatile east of the African state, a ministerial spokeswoman said.

Minister Bogdan Klich arrived for a surprise two-day visit to see Polish troops in the European Union's multinational EUFOR mission for Chad and the Central African Republic, his spokeswoman Barbara Bartkowska told AFP.

"The minister will take part in a ceremony where the Polish flag will be hoisted at the Polish contingent's base," which is being built near the eastern town of Iriba, she said.

The Polish troops are there to protect people displaced by civil conflict in eastern Chad and the Central African Republic, and refugees from the war-stricken Darfur region of neighbouring Sudan.

The first Poles arrived for the mission in April and more are due in August, with the full contingent of 400 due to be operational in September.

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