2 civilians killed by AU in self-defence in Darfur
Dec 11, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — The African Union said on Monday it killed two civilians a day earlier in Sudan’s Darfur region in self-defence after a crowd of protesters tried to storm a military base.
Separately, unidentified gunmen had kidnapped two AU military personnel on Sunday in Darfur’s main town and were holding them at an unknown location, the AU said.
Public anger has risen against the 7,000-strong AU force, which is accused of failing to stop the violence in Darfur.
The incidents underscored the tension — AU troops had not killed civilians in Darfur before, and although AU staff have been abducted in the past, the kidnappings were the first to happen near the force headquarters in the town of El Fasher.
Experts say around 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur since conflict flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government, charging it with neglect.
On Monday a rebel group said a Sudanese army warplane fired a rocket at a house in a northern village, killing a woman and seven children, all civilians. An armed forces spokesman said the claim was fabricated.
The AU killings took place in the town of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur.
Noureddine Mezni, spokesman for the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), said a crowd had tried to prevent the AU attending the burial of civilians killed in an attack over the weekend near the village of Sirba, 45 km (30 miles) north of El Geneina.
“They broke the window of an AMIS car and then set fire to an AMIS police station … and even assaulted the (military) sector commander,” Mezni said when contacted by Reuters.
WARNING SHOT
Mezni said soldiers fired a warning shot after the crowd tried to storm their military base but the protesters charged and forced the troops to open fire, wounding one person.
“The crowd then regrouped and physically tried to snatch weapons from AMIS troops who opened fire in self-defence. Two people were killed,” he said, adding that AU doctors treated the wounded civilian.
“The African Union will continue to maintain restraint in the face of unsolicited provocation and repeats its appeal that it is in Darfur to help the people and not to be part of the conflict,” he said.
The Sudanese government has rejected a U.N. Security Council resolution authorising the deployment of 22,500 troops and police to replace the under-funded and overstretched AU force, which has appealed for reinforcements.
The African organisation said the two military personnel kidnapped in El Fasher had been taken to an unknown location along with their vehicle.
“AMIS condemns this hijacking in the strongest terms, and once more calls on the kidnapers to unconditionally release the personnel and the vehicle with immediate effect,” the AU said.
Previous kidnappings have ended with the captives being released unharmed.
El Fasher was the scene of deadly clashes over the past week between Janjaweed militias, which the Sudanese government is accused of backing, and a former rebel group. Khartoum denies supporting the Janjaweed.
The fighting forced the United Nations to pull out 134 of its own and other agencies’ staff.
(Reuters)