Peacekeepers die in Darfur attack

 

Seven UN-African Union peacekeepers have been killed and 22 others wounded in an attack in Sudan's Darfur region, the United Nations said.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office said that at least seven of the wounded were in serious condition. Five Rwandan soldiers and two police officers, one from Ghana, the other from Uganda, were killed.

Spokeswoman Michele Montas said Mr Ban "condemns in the strongest possible terms this unacceptable act of extreme violence" against peacekeepers.

Mr Ban's office said the attack came when a joint police and military patrol investigating the killing of civilians in North Darfur was ambushed by unidentified militia.

The gunmen attacked the peacekeepers on Tuesday afternoon in an area called Umm Hagiba, in northern Darfur. The attackers were driving 40 SUVs mounted with machine guns when they opened fire, Shereen Zorba, deputy spokeswoman of the UN-AU mission called UNAMID, said.

The peacekeepers fired back, she said.

"We are outraged by the attack," Ms Zorba said. "We are not part of the conflict, but a tool to alleviate the suffering of civilians. We try to establish some level of peace and security in the ground. But to drag us in to be part of the conflict is unjustifiable."

The joint United Nations-AU force took over peacekeeping duties in the remote western Darfur region in December with about 9,000 soldiers and police officers.

It is authorised to have 26,000 members, but has contended with chronic shortages of staff and equipment and less-than-adequate co-operation from the Sudanese government.

The peacekeeping force has been unable to persuade the US and other governments to supply attack and transport helicopters, surveillance aircraft, military engineers and logistical support it needs to safely navigate Sudan's Darfur region.

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