Gunmen kill blue helmet serving with UN-AU mission in Darfur

A peacekeeper serving with the joint United Nations-African Union mission in Darfur was killed today after being abducted by armed men following a firefight in the north of the war-wracked Sudanese region.

The peacekeeping operation (UNAMID) reported that a group of armed men ambushed a mission patrol returning from the town of Fata Borno in North Darfur state.

The blue helmets returned fire, killing one of the attackers, but the attackers managed to carjack a UNAMID vehicle containing three peacekeepers.

Two of the UNAMID soldiers were later released by the gunmen, although both sustained injuries and one is in a serious condition. They have been taken to the nearby town of Kutum for medical treatment.

The third peacekeeper was found to have been killed, according to a press release issued by the mission.

UNAMID has more than 17,700 troops – part of over 23,000 military personnel – on the ground in Darfur, a remote and arid region on Sudan’s western flank that has been the subject of fighting between Government forces, allied militia and rebels since 2003.