Two more AU soldiers found dead in Darfur

Oct 13, 2005 (KHARTOUM) — The bodies of two Nigerian African Union peacekeepers who had gone missing after a deadly ambush last week were found Thursday 13 October in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region, a spokesman said.

A Nigerian officer holds passports.

“They were found dead today, a few metres (yards) away from the site of the ambush in Menawash, in the Khorabashi area,” AU spokesman Nureddin Mezni told AFP.

The two had been missing since two other Nigerian peacekeepers and two contractors were killed on Saturday. Three other troops were wounded and remain in serious condition.

On Wednesday, a spokswoman in Khartoun said the United Nations mission in Sudan has declared much of the war-torn western region of Darfur unsafe for humanitarian operations.

She cited the upsurge in violence and the brief abduction of nearly 40 other AU personnel by rebel forces as major causes for concern.

Between 180,000 and 300,000 people have died in Darfur since a civil conflict between rebels and government-backed Arab militias erupted in February 2003, with some 2.6 million civilians left homeless.

(AFP)