By Moumine Ngarmbassa

N'DJAMENA, May 2 (Reuters) - The European Union military force in Chad does not have enough troops to escort humanitarian convoys in the conflict-torn eastern region where a French aid worker was killed by gunmen, a force spokesman said on Friday.

Pascal Marlinge, the country head of Save the Children UK in Chad, was shot dead by gunmen on Thursday after they held up his three-car convoy between the villages of Forchana and Hadjer Hadid, not far from the border with Sudan's Darfur region.

The killing took place just 9 km (6 miles) east of Forchana, where French marines serving in the EU force (EUFOR) have set up a base and have been sending out regular patrols in the region, EUFOR spokesman in Chad Lt-Col Jean Axelos told Reuters.

Thursday's killing has raised questions about the ability of the thinly stretched force, which is still deploying, to carry out its mandate to protect civilians, refugees and aid workers in an area of several hundred thousand square km (miles).

"If you take a map and look at the distances, it's clear that EUFOR can never be everywhere, all the time," Axelos said.

EUFOR has just over 2,200 troops deployed at the moment in east Chad. The region has been racked by violence in recent years, including rebel offensives, inter-ethnic clashes and attacks by raiders coming over the border from war-torn Darfur.

Axelos said the European troops were concentrating on guarding refugee camps, humanitarian installations and store depots. "In terms of troop numbers, it would be difficult for us to accompany all the convoys," he said.

EUFOR commanders had agreed with humanitarian groups and NGOs, who are assisting around half a million Sudanese and Chadian civilians displaced by violence in the region, that they could not provide individual aid convoy escorts for the moment.

Axelos said Thursday's killing served to demonstrate "the indispensable character of our mission in the zone", but discussions would be held with the foreign humanitarian groups about operating procedures.

DEPLOYMENT CONTINUES

EUFOR is expected to reach its full operational strength of 3,700 troops in Chad at the end of June. Besides the French unit at Forchana, an Irish battalion is deploying at Goz Beida to the south4

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