Peacekeeper attacked in Darfur

Unidentified assailants today shot and wounded a soldier serving in the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan’s troubled region of Darfur, prompting the peacekeepers to return fire.

The wounded member of the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) was on guard duty at a water point in Kutum in North Darfur state when he was shot by the attackers, who fled when the troops fought back, the spokesperson of the Secretary-General told reporters in New York.

The peacekeeper was rushed to a nearby UN medical centre for treatment and later evacuated to the mission’s hospital in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. He is in stable condition.

UNAMID has appealed to the Sudanese authorities to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.

UNAMID was established by the Security Council in 2007 to protect civilians in Darfur, where an estimated 300,000 people have been killed and another 2.7 million forced from their homes since violence erupted in 2003, pitting rebels against Government forces and their allied Janjaweed militiamen.