Bloodiest day for African Union forces in Darfur
September 30, 2007 (Al-Fasher) — Rebel forces stormed a small African Union base in northern Darfur, killing 10 peacekeepers from the beleaguered mission, said A.U. officials.
More than 50 A.U. peacekeepers and support personnel are missing in action since the attack on the base in northern Darfur just after sunset Saturday.
“This is the heaviest loss of life and the biggest attack on the African Union mission,” said A.U. spokesman Noureddine Mezni, who couldn’t confirm the casualty figures because the fighting was ongoing.
Officers in the A.U. force said that 1,000 rebels from the Sudan Liberation Army stormed the A.U. base in the town of Haskanita just after the sunset fastbreaking meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“There is a war going on between the rebels and the government, and the A.U. is crunched in the middle,” said a senior A.U. officer who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Darfur rebels have grown increasingly hostile to the A.U. peacekeepers, saying the force isn’t neutral and favors the government side. There have been several ambushes of A.U. forces in the past year blamed on the rebels.
The rebels didn’t comment on the latest attack on the A.U. base, nor did the Sudanese military.
Rebel commanders, did, however, tell The Associated Press a few days earlier that they had been involved in heavy battles against government-allied forces in the Haskanita area for the past two weeks.
“The government has massed five or six janjaweed units who are converging on us,” said Abdelaziz Ushar, a commander in the rebel Justice and Equality Movement, which fights alongside the SLA, referring to the camel-riding, pro-government militias that have led the attacks on rebels.
A.U. officers confirmed that that they had observed several Sudanese helicopter gunships and MiG-19 fighter jets taking off for Haskanita Sunday from their base in southern Darfur.
The government offensive and rebel counter-offensive in the area, which breach several recent ceasefire commitments, is part of a surge of fighting between the warring factions ahead of new peace negotiations set for Oct. 27 in Libya.
More than 200,000 people have died in Darfur since ethnic African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated central government, accusing it of discrimination.
Khartoum is accused of retaliating by unleashing janjaweed militias, which are blamed for the worst atrocities against civilians in a conflict that has displaced more than 2.5 million people.
Saturday’s attack is the first time since the 7,000-strong A.U. mission was deployed in June 2004 that one of their bases has been overrun.
The underfunded force has been unable to stem the fighting in the war torn western region and will soon be merged into a much more powerful hybrid U.N. force.
The first units of the 26,000-strong force will be deployed in October and it is expected to assume responsibility for the area Dec. 31.
(AP)