BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Union military force in Chad is closely watching rebel activities in the east of the country following an incident there early Friday, EU military officers said.

The officers said that Irish Lieutenant General Patrick Nash, who heads the so-called EUFOR peacekeeping mission to Chad, briefly raised the incident with top EU military brass at a meeting in Brussels.

"He said that something happened this morning involving rebels in eastern Chad. He didn't specify if they came from Sudan or not. They are still investigating what happened," one officer said, on condition of anonymity.

"There are no details at the moment," he said.

A second officer confirmed Nash's comments.

EUFOR began in March its year-long UN mandate to protect refugees from western Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region as well as people displaced by rebel insurgency in Chad and the northern Central African Republic.

A rebel offensive on the Chad capital Ndjamena in mid-February held up deployment of EUFOR, which will eventually number 3,700 troops.

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