Darfur rebels attack AU force, one killed, 10 wounded

Jan 6, 2005 (DAKAR) — One Senegalese soldier of the African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission was killed and 10 others were wounded in an ambush Friday by armed Sudanese rebels in the Darfur region of western Sudan, said the Senegalese military.

The soldiers came under attack when returning to the camps after they finished an escort mission, said a statement issued by the Senegalese military.

This is the second ambush against the AU peacekeeping forces by armed Sundanese rebels since Nov. 29, 2005, when four Senegalese soldiers were wounded.

Senegal sent 540 soldiers to the war-torn Darfur region in January last year on a peacekeeping mission at the request of the AU.

In February 2003, the Sudanese Liberation Movement and Army, along with the rebel Justice and Equality Movement, launched a large-scale conflict with the Sudanese government with accusations that the government had failed to protect them from being attacked by Arab tribal militias.

Under the mediation of the AU, the Sudanese government reached ceasefire agreements with the two armed rebel groups on April 8, 2004, in N’djamena, the capital city of Chad.

However, there have been continuous violations of the agreements.

The United Nations has estimated that the conflicts in the Darfur region have cost over tens of thousands lives and displaced 1.7 million others.

(Xinhua)