Four Sudanese civilians died when a grenade went off as they tried to retrieve a body believed to be of a French soldier killed after he strayed into Sudan from Chad, the army said on Thursday.
A spokesperson said a group of Sudanese nomads found the body on Wednesday near the border with Chad.
”Because of their lack of experience … a hand grenade which the soldier was carrying exploded while they were trying to load the body on a camel, killing four of them,” he said.
He said other nomads later informed the armed forces about the location of the bodies. He did not give further details.
The European security force in Chad (EUFOR) said on Wednesday it was sending a team to identity the body of the soldier, which has arrived in Khartoum.
The French special forces soldier went missing on Monday after he and a colleague accidentally crossed the Sudanese border in a vehicle near Tissi in the remote region near the Chad, Sudan and Central African Republic frontiers.
The European force said the soldiers encountered a Sudanese army checkpoint and declared their identity but were fired at by Sudanese troops. The other French soldier was wounded but was able to rejoin EU forces. France and the European Union have apologised to Sudan for the frontier violation.
Sudan, however, said a military jeep that entered from Chad was carrying six French soldiers who opened fire on a Sudanese army position.
”Two army soldiers were wounded, five civilians were killed and four others wounded,” the armed forces said in a statement published in Sudanese newspapers on Thursday. – Reuters