Gunmen carry out new attack on Darfur peacekeepers, seven wounded

February 17, 2010 (KHARTOUM) – Armed men ambushed a police convey of Darfur hybrid mission outside Nyala, capital of South Darfur state wounding seven peacekeepers yesterday, the UNAMID said.

The UN Secretary General in a recent report to the Security Council stressed that the “security environment continues to present significant risks to United Nations and humanitarian staff in Darfur”. He said the UNAMID personnel were deliberately attacked on several occasions.

On 8 December 2009, a team of UNAMID police advisers escorted by a Pakistani formed police unit in Nyala came under fire from a group of some 12 to15 attackers wearing military fatigues and carrying automatic weapons.

on December 4, unidentified gunmen attacked a platoon of 20 Rwandan peacekeepers escorting one water tanker in Saraf Umra, one of the government militias’ stronghold locations in North Darfur. Three blue helmets were killed.

The Pakistani soldiers, part of a five-vehicle UNAMID police convoy, were attacked on the afternoon (around 14:20 hours) near Sakali, an area located 2km from the El-Sherif camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and 17km south of Nyala.

The peacekeepers were returning to their base in Nyala, ending a confidence building patrol around the IDPs camp. The African Union-United Nations mission said “Six of the wounded officers, three of which are in serious condition, were immediately evacuated to the Mission’s hospital in Nyala and another was airlifted in critical condition to Khartoum”.

The attackers also stole two vehicles.

UNAMID chief, Ibrahim Gambari, today said outraged by the aggression and praised the courage of the peacekeepers.

“Any attack on peacekeepers is tantamount to a war crime. Those responsible must be brought to justice. Our mission will continue to carry out its mandate – to bring peace and security to the people of Darfur,” he said.

In New York, Ban Ki-Moon condemned the attack against the UNAMID police convoy and urged The Sudanese government to immediately investigate the incident and to “ensure that the perpetrators are swiftly identified and brought to justice”.

Also, Abdel Wahid Al-Nur, the leader of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement denounced the attack on the Pakistani peacekeepers and stressed his support to peacekeeping mission urging to enable the mission to defend appropriately the civilians and displaced population.

Sudan and the UNAMID signed on December 29 an additional protocol including safety measures to ensure the security of the peacekeepers working in the restive region.

Since the joint operation took over from the African mission in January 2008, 20 peacekeepers were killed in Darfur. Also two civilian personnel had been abducted last August and only released some 100 days after in December.

Following the killing of five Rwandans peacekeepers during the first week of December in two successive attacks, Kigali pointed fingers at Sudan suggesting the latter is responsible for the deadly attacks over the weekend against its soldiers.

(ST)