Darfur: Attack on UN-African Union Peacekeepers Condemned

Darfur: Security Council Condemns Attack on UN-African Union Peacekeepers

New York, Jan 23 2012 - The Security Council today strongly condemned this weekend’s attack on a United Nations-African Union patrol in Darfur, which resulted in one death, and called on the Sudanese Government to bring the perpetrators to justice.

One Nigerian peacekeeper serving with the mission, known as UNAMID, was killed in Saturday’s attack and three others were wounded, one of them seriously.

“The members of the Security Council expressed their condolences to the family of the peacekeeper killed in the attack, as well as to the Government of Nigeria,” Ambassador Baso Sangqu of South Africa, which holds the 15-member body’s presidency for this month, said in a statement read out to the press.

“They called on the Government of Sudan to bring the perpetrators to justice, and stressed that there must be an end to impunity for those who attack peacekeepers,” he added.

Council members also reiterated their full support for UNAMID and called on all parties in Darfur to cooperate with the mission.

Fighting and large-scale displacement has convulsed Darfur since 2003, when rebels took up arms against the Government, whose military forces responded with the support of allied militiamen.

Deployed at the start of 2008, UNAMID is tasked with protecting civilians, promoting an inclusive peace process and help ensuring the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance across Darfur, an arid region on Sudan’s western flank.

For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news

ENDS