Two peacekeepers missing in South Darfur – UNAMID

March 6, 2010 (KHARTOUM) – Two peacekeepers are mission in Sudan’s troubled region of Darfur after the detention of the members of UNAMID patrol in Jebel Marra on Friday by unknown armed men, the hybrid mission said today.

The patrol composed of protection elements, military observers and UNAMID police was in the area of Deribat in South Darfur, to assess the humanitarian situation, following reports about heavy fighting between the Sudanese army and SLA-led by Abdel Wahid Al-Nur that triggered the displacement of thousands of civilians.

The UNAMID which was unable to identify the assailants said “the Mission had received assurances by belligerents that the UNAMID patrol could carry out its task, it was ambushed by a large group of unidentified armed men.”

The peacekeepers were released on Saturday morning along with their three Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs), said the UNAMID, “but all other vehicles and equipment were kept by the attackers. Two peacekeepers are still unaccounted for and listed as missing”.

“We don’t know their whereabouts or how they came to be missing … Did they flee during the ambush trying to make their way back to base? We don’t know,” a UNAMID official told Reuters today.

He further said the UNAMID patrol composed of 60 members had moved the capital of South Darfur state, Nyala, to the mountainous Jebel Marra when they had been ambushed around midday by an important number of fighters that the joint mission seemingly unable to determine their identity.

“The only thing we know for sure is that it happened in an area that the SLA was claiming under its control. But that does not signify anything,” said the director of UNAMID communication division Kemal Saiki.

During the last week of February, Deribat witnessed heavy fighting between the Sudanese army and the SLA-AW. Medecins du Monde, said in a statement released on February 24 that the number of the internally displaced persons reached 100,000 people following clashes.

(ST)