UN Sudan mission condemns murders of African Union soldiers

The UN mission in Sudan (UNMIS) today strongly condemned Saturday’s attack on the African Union’s mission in that country, in which two soldiers were killed.

In a statement issued in Khartoum, the spokesperson for UNMIS extended condolences to the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) and to the families of the two soldiers killed by an unidentified group of armed men in the Kuma area of North Darfur.

“UNMIS calls on all parties to the Darfur conflict to respect the neutral and impartial status of AMIS,” said the statement, which went on to recall that “any attack against the African Union personnel deployed in Darfur is a serious violation of international law, constitutes a breach of existing ceasefire agreements, and contravenes relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.”

The statement added that UNMIS supports the AMIS decision to carry out a thorough investigation to identify the perpetrators of the attack, urging all parties to fully cooperate in bringing those responsible to justice.

Despite the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) in May, fierce fighting has continued in the region, and the number of attacks on humanitarian workers has recently soared to unprecedented levels.

A draft resolution to replace AMIS with a UN peacekeeping operation is circulating among Security Council members, but the Sudanese Government says it opposes having blue helmets in Darfur.