Unknown gunmen kill one peacekeeper in South Darfur – UNAMID

August 5, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – A peacekeeper was shot dead and another seriously wounded on Friday as result of an attack carried out by unknown gunmen in South Darfur, the African-Union United Nation operation reported.

UNAMID said today a vehicle transporting five peacekeepers was ambushed by unidentified four gunmen at 10:40 am local time in Duma Village, 37 kilometres northeast of Nyala, South Darfur.

The nationality of the victims was not disclosed, but the hybrid mission said a team of its military police has been dispatched to the area to investigate the attack. The Sudanese police also launched a search operation to find the gunmen.

UNAMID Deputy Joint Special Representative, Aichatou Mindaoudou Souleymane, condemned the “deplorable” attack adding that the mission is working closely with local authorities to arrest the culprits.

Last July a vehicle ridden by five Ethiopian peacekeepers was attacked on the road between the airport and the capital of West Darfur state. One soldiers was killed and another sustained an injury.

The UNAMID vehicle has been recovered and the victims were transported to a hospital in Nyala by Sudanese police and then transferred by UNAMID to a Pakistan Level III hospital to treat the most seriously injured.

Saturday’s assault brings to 30 the total number of peacekeepers killed in western Sudan since January 2008 when the the hybrid mission took over from an earlier African force in Darfur.

(ST)