AU soldier killed in Darfur ambush – UN
May 29, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — One African Union soldier was killed and another critically wounded when heavily armed men ambushed a patrol not far from their base in West Darfur, the United Nations said.
“The number of attackers is unconfirmed between six to 12 and they were reportedly armed with RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and AK-47 rifles,” the U.N. statement sent late on Sunday said.
The AU on Monday confirmed the ambush but could not give details. The identity of the men behind the attack was unknown.
The ill-equipped 7,000-strong AU force is monitoring a shaky truce in Sudan’s violent west, but have been largely unable to prevent attacks and have become targets themselves in some areas as violence spirals out of control.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than 2 million forced from their homes during more than three years of fighting in Darfur.
Despite a May 5 peace deal signed in Abuja between one rebel faction and the government, many other armed groups in the region are unhappy with the agreement and conflict continues.
Khalil Ibrahim, president of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel group, said he would travel to Slovenia on Tuesday to try to find common ground with the AU on the deal.
“We are not going to sign this agreement unless there is a radical change including real regional government for Darfur, and reconstruction of Darfur, compensation for our people and a fair share of power,” he told Reuters in Cairo.
The African Union has set a May 31 deadline for the two factions to agree to the peace deal or face possible sanctions.
ATTACK NEAR CHAD BORDER
Libya, which has tried for months to broker peace for Darfur, hosted two days of meetings this week between the rebel Sudan Liberation Army, the Sudanese government and the AU on how to implement the latest deal.
“Libya is in contact with the two rebel movements who have not signed the agreement,” Libya’s envoy to the Abuja negotiations, Ali Treki, said after the talks in Tripoli.
“There is great hope that the two (rebel) movements will come to sign in Addis Ababa on May 31.”
The attack on AU forces occurred on Friday about 2 km (1.5 miles) from their base in Masteri near the border with Chad in south-west Darfur.
A U.N. report on Monday said the AU base in Masteri itself was also attacked on May 27 during the night. Around 50 or 60 armed men demanded to see the sector commander, but refused to lay down their weapons.
“After leaving, the armed men fired several RPG rounds into the camp from a short distance,” the report said. Five soldiers were injured, it added.
The area has come under attack many times by armed Arab militia, known locally as Janjaweed. They have been amassing since the peace deal and become bolder in engaging AU troops.
The AU has also come under attack in West Darfur in the past by a third rebel group demanding a seat at the Darfur talks.
Many of the 2 million Darfuris in camps have demonstrated against the deal and attacked the AU, killing a Sudanese interpreter. They voice frustration that the AU is unable to protect them from continued rape, killing and looting.
The international community wants Sudan to accept a U.N. takeover of the AU mission, but despite intense global pressure, Khartoum has so far refused.
(Reuters)