Tanzania to send 800 troops to Darfur Force

November 20, 2007 (DAR ES SALAAM) — Tanzania will contribute 800 troops to a U.N.-African Union force charged with restoring stability and halting civilian massacres in Sudan’s Darfur region, the government said Tuesday.

Defense Minister Juma Kapuya said his troops, to be deployed in March, would refrain from combat while patrolling the region where peacekeepers have already been attacked and killed.

“We have all the blessings of the Sudanese government, who have requested Tanzania to contribute to the hybrid force to help them restore peace and tranquility in the region,” he told reporters.

“They will only be mandated to fire back if they come under attack,” he added.

Kapuya said a U.N. team was inspecting equipment, while the U.S. was training personnel.

The new, much stronger force of 26,000 mainly African troops is expected to replace the under-funded, ill-equipped and out-manned 7,000 African Union force, which have served since 2004.

The force is tasked with ending more than four years of bloodshed in which more than 200,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine and disease while 2.2 million others have been left homeless.

(AFP)