Tanzania ready to send 100 troops to Sudan’s Darfur region

DAR ES SALAAM, Aug 5 (AFP) — Tanzania has agreed to send 100 troops to western Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region, following a request by the African Union (AU), Deputy Foreign Minister Abdulkader Shareef said on Thursday.

“We are now waiting for logistic arrangements for the troops to go to Sudan,” he told AFP by telephone from Tanzania’s administrative capital Dodoma.

Nigeria and Rwanda are the other two African countries that have confirmed they would contribute troops to the AU force.

The AU said Wednesday it was planning to bolster what was supposed to be a 300-man unit to protect AU observers overseeing the a shaky ceasefire in Darfur to a 2,000-strong peacekeeping force.

The UN says up to 50,000 people have died since ethnic minority rebels launched an uprising early last year against the Sudanese army and its Arab militia allies, the Janjaweed.