The United Nations has voiced outrage after two peacekeepers serving with
the joint African Union-UN force in Sudan's war-scarred Darfur region were
killed and three others seriously wounded in an ambush earlier today.
The two Egyptian soldiers died after their convoy, carrying out a routine
patrol, was attacked by about 20 unidentified armed gunmen who opened fire
without warning in a remote area of South Darfur state,
<"http://unamid.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=899&ctl=Details&mid=1072&I
temID=8764">according to the mission (known as
<"http://unamid.unmissions.org/">UNAMID).
The wounded soldiers have been airlifted to a UNAMID hospital in the state
capital of Nyala and are reported to be in a stable condition.
The head of UNAMID and the AU-UN Joint Special Representative, Ibrahim
Gambari, expressed outrage at what he described as a "cowardly attack"
against the peacekeepers, who he noted are in Darfur – which has been beset
by conflict and large-scale humanitarian suffering since 2003 – only to help
restore peace and stability to the region.
"UNAMID remains undaunted and unwavering in its commitment to carrying out
its mandate in the service of peace," Mr. Gambari stressed.
Kemal Saïki, a spokesperson for UNAMID, told UN Radio that there is "no
indication as to the identities nor the motives of the attackers." He called
on Sudanese authorities to identify, capture and bring to justice the
attackers and any sponsors as soon as possible.
"There is absolutely no reason why our peacekeepers should have been
attacked… This is a criminal act of violence that we are forcefully
denouncing."
Today's attack took place about 11:30 a.m. near the village of Katila, which
is about 85 kilometres south of the town of Edd al Fursan. The UNAMID convoy
that was ambushed was comprised of three vehicles and 20 peacekeepers.
Last month four South African police advisers serving with UNAMID were
abducted near Nyala by unknown gunmen but were later released unharmed.
Today's deaths take the number of UNAMID personnel killed as a result of
hostile actions to 24 since the mission was established at the start of 2008
as a successor to an earlier AU force. An estimated 300,000 people have been
killed and 2.7 million other Darfurians displaced since fighting erupted
seven years ago.
May 7 2010 1:10PM
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