100 more Rwandan troops arrive in Darfur for AU peace mission

EL FASHER, Sudan, Oct 31 (AFP) — One hundred Rwandan troops arrived in the Darfur town of El Fasher on Sunday as part of an expanding African Unionmission to monitor a shaky ceasefire for the conflict-ravaged province in western Sudan, an AFP photographer reported.

Rwandan troops arrive on a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane at El Fasher airport in Darfur, October 30, 2004 as part of an expanded African Union peacekeeping effort in the violent region of western Sudan.

The troops arrived aboard two US air force C130 transport planes from Kigali.

On Saturday, 65 Rwandan soldiers arrived in El Fasher in Kigali’s first deployment in Darfur since the AU announced its mission there would grow sevenfold, to over 3,000 personnel.

On Saturday, a senior AU military observer told reporters fighting had taken place that day in the Darfur town of Zalingi.

Since February 2003, Darfur has been a theatre of clashes that, according to several humanitarian groups, have claimed up to 70,000 lives and displaced 1.5 million others.