Armed robbery reported at staff residence of UN-African Union Darfur force

Unidentified gunmen broke into a guest house yesterday occupied by personnel from the hybrid African Union-United Nations peacekeeping operation in Darfur, known as UNAMID.

The two men demanded the keys for a couple of UNAMID vehicles parked in the compound of the guest house in Mournei, approximately 80 kilometres from the West Darfur capital, El Geneina.

UNAMID said that the security officer at the guest house escaped without suffering any injuries and was able to report the incident to Sudanese police, informing them that the bandits got away with a VHF hand held radio and DVD player.

The peacekeeping mission tasked with quelling the violence in the war-ravaged western flank of Sudan also reported that banditry remains widespread in West Darfur, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told the press in New York.

Meanwhile, in South Darfur, Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, Susana Malcorra, today travelled to the provincial capital Nyala to pay a courtesy visit on the Wali, or Governor, during which they discussed issues related to the joint AU-UN mission.

The Wali indicated that his government had approved land for UNAMID in South Darfur and reaffirmed his government’s commitment to cooperate with the peacekeeping operation.

While in Nyala, Ms. Malcorra also met with UNAMID officials and toured the peacekeepers’ facilities, including the Pakistan Level III hospital where she was briefed on the progress of construction work underway.

More than one year on from transferring peacekeeping operations to UNAMID from the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS), well over 12,000 of the 19,555 military personnel authorized by the Security Council are now in place across Darfur.

The hybrid force was set up to protect civilians in Darfur, where an estimated 300,000 people have been killed and another 2.7 million have been forced from their homes since fighting erupted in 2003, pitting rebels against Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen.