Unknown assailants kill one peacekeeper in South Darfur
March 17, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — A UNAMID peacekeeper has been killed near Nyala, the capital of South Darfur today during an attack against a six member patrol of the hybrid peacekeeping force.
“Today, at about 13:20 hours, six UNAMID Peacekeepers were ambushed by approximately eight unknown gunmen, who opened fire on them, while they were returning to their base in Nyala, South Darfur after conducting an escort patrol,” a statement said.
One peacekeeper was wounded during the fighting with the assailants, but later he was declared dead after had been airlifted to the UNAMID headquarters in El-Fasher for further medical treatment.
The nationality of the killed peacekeeper was not disclosed by the UNAMID.
The attack is the second incident against the peacekeepers since the issuance of the arrest warrant by the ICC against the President Omer Al-Bashir. Four peacekeepers were wounded in an ambush in West Darfur near El Geneina on March 9.The government recently renewed its commitment to protect the joint force.
Last week, three MSF Belgium foreign staffers had been abducted in the same state by a group called itself Al-Bashir’s Eagles to protest the ICC decision against the Sudanese president.
The head of the joint mission Rodolphe Adada condemned the “unprovoked attack” on the peacekeepers and reaffirmed that it would not deter the mission from fulfilling its mandate.
From New York, the UN chief Ban Ki-Moon also condemned the deadly ambush against the blue helmets and urged Khartoum to ensure the “”safety and security of UN and UN-associated personnel in Sudan.
The leader of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement slammed the fatal attack on the UNAMID and appealed to probe the identity of the attackers. However he pointed finger at the government saying “this is a new war crime to add in the record of Khartoum regime that programmed these militias to commit genocide in Darfur.”
U.N. officials feared a violent backlash after ICC arrest warrant and demanded the Sudanese government to protect the peacekeepers deployed in the six year war torn region.
(ST)