UNITED NATIONS, Sept 17, 2008 (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon is urging the dispatch of 6,000 UN troops to replace a European Union force in restive eastern Chad and northeast Central African Republic (CAR), according to a report released Wednesday.

The EU's military force, known as EUFOR, currently numbers 3,300 troops and its mandate is set to expire next March 15.

Ban's latest report on the UN Mission in CAR and Chad (MINURCAT) said the UN replacement troops would need an 'over the horizon' capability to be able to deploy quickly 'should the security situation rise to levels beyond the capacity of a United Nations force,' particularly during the transition period.

He said that while insecurity and instability in the two nations are spurred by many factors, positive steps have been taken towards bolstering peace and stability.

MINURCAT officially took up its 12-month mission in mid-March, in a bid to provide security so that humanitarian work can be carried out to aid refugees and displaced persons from Darfur, CAR and Chad, totalling some 450,000 individuals.

'Regional and local tensions, poverty, weak institutions and poor infrastructure compound the difficulties faced by local authorities in finding peaceful and sustainable mechanisms to address the causes and consequences of insecurity and violence,' Ban said.

In eastern Chad, carjackings, armed robberies and crime targeting both national and international humanitarian staff continued, impeding their ability to help the nearly 300,000 refugees and almost 200,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the area.

Despite such hurdles, progress has been made since July in both Chad and CAR, Ban said as he commended the leaders of the two countries.