Armed bandits attack Darfur peacekeeping convoy

March 18, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — Armed bandits opened fire on a convoy of peacekeepers in Sudan’s Darfur region, officials said on Tuesday, in the latest in a string of attacks in the country’s remote west.

Five international police officers were injured after their vehicle flipped over during the ambush on Monday afternoon, a spokesman for the U.N./African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) said.

“They managed to crawl out and get away,” spokesman Adrian Edwards said.

“We are fairly sure this was the work of bandits, trying to get hold of tyres. We are not taking it as an attack specifically on UNAMID. But it shows the challenges of working in the area and the dangers of using the roads.”

The attackers opened fire as the police officers were driving south on a patrol from the town of Duma to Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, at 12.45pm (0945 GMT), he added.

The second vehicle in the convoy, carrying four police officers and a translator, managed to speed off without anyone getting injured.

Details of the attack were still coming in, added Edwards, saying it was unclear what happened to the attackers or how the five officers were rescued.

It was the fourth reported confrontation between armed groups and the joint U.N./AU force since it took over from an under-manned group of AU peacekeepers at the beginning of the year.

Law and order has collapsed in Darfur where international experts say five years of conflict has killed 200,000 and driven 2.5 million from their homes.

The U.N.’s World Food Programme last week said a surge of bandit attacks on their vehicles had halved deliveries of emergency aid to the region.

Hijackings and roadside hold-ups have become an almost daily occurrence in some areas, say aid workers.

The UNAMID force, which is supposed to help bring stability to a region the size of France, is currently at less than a third of its promised strength, with just over 7,000 troops and 1,600 police officers on the ground.

(Reuters)