A Nigerian peacekeeper was killed and two Kenyan colleagues were wounded in Sudan's troubled Darfur region when armed men ambushed their convoy, the joint UN/African Union force told Reuters on Tuesday. The attack underlined the insecurity that persists in the region despite a flurry of diplomatic efforts to find an end to the six-year conflict.
A group of up to eight unknown armed men opened fire on peacekeeping soldiers and police as they escorted a minibus carrying civilian workers in El Geneina on Monday evening, force communications chief Kemal Saiki said. "Three peacekeepers were injured ... Unfortunately one of the wounded later died as a result of his wounds," Saiki said, adding the attack brought to 17 the number of UNAMID troops killed in violence since their arrival in January last year.
"They (the attackers) opened fire, apparently with no warning ... Targeting peacekeepers like this is not only a cowardly act, it achieves nothing. We condemn it." El Geneina is the capital of West Darfur district. The attackers also stole one of the three vehicles in the UNAMID convoy, said Saiki.
An official from the force confirmed a Nigerian soldier was killed and two Kenyan military policemen were wounded in the attack. The survivors were being treated in hospital in Nyala, the capital of south Darfur, the official added. Law and order has collapsed in Darfur since mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the government in 2003, demanding better representation and more development for the region.