Unidentified gunmen killed five African Union peacekeepers in the Darfur region of western Sudan, the deadliest single attack against the force in one day since late 2004, an AU spokesperson said on Monday.
The five were guarding a water point near the Sudanese border with Chad when they came under fire on Sunday, Noureddine Mezni said. Four soldiers were killed in the shooting and the fifth died of his wounds on Monday morning.
Three gunmen were also killed, he said.
”We strongly condemn this cowardly attack against the very people who are working hard to achieve peace in Darfur,” Mezni told Reuters. ”It was totally unprovoked.”
The killings bring to 15 the number of AU personnel killed in Darfur since the troops were deployed in late 2004. A senior Nigerian officer working with the mission has been missing since he was kidnapped in December.
The AU operates an overstretched 7 000-strong force in Darfur. Sudan has rejected the deployment of a larger United Nations force in the region, where violence has persisted despite a 2006 peace agreement between the government and one rebel faction.
Asked if the assailants were identified through their corpses, Mezni said: ”An investigation is under way and there will be a statement with more details.”
The attack came a day after a helicopter carrying the AU deputy force commander came under fire on its way from western Darfur to the force’s headquarters in El Fasher, the region’s biggest town.
Experts estimate that about 200 000 people have been killed and 2,5-million have fled their homes since the conflict flared in 2003, when rebels took up arms against Khartoum, charging it with neglect. The government says only 9 000 people have died. — Reuters