UN: 1 peacekeeper killed in ambush in Sudan's wartorn Darfur region

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Dozens of gunmen in SUVs ambushed UN-African Union peacekeepers in the wartorn Darfur region, killing at least one and wounding 23 others, a UN spokeswoman said Wednesday. At least six of the wounded were in critical condition and six others were missing, said Shereen Zorba, deputy spokeswoman of the UN-AU mission called UNAMID. She said an earlier report by Sudan's state news agency, SUNA, that five peacekeepers were killed was incorrect. The gunmen attacked the peacekeepers Tuesday afternoon in an area called Umm Hagiba, about 100 kilometers from UNAMID's camp in northern Darfur. The attackers were driving 40 SUVs mounted with machine guns when they opened fire, Zorba said. The peacekeepers fired back, she said. "We are outraged by the attack," Zorba told The Associated Press. "We are not part of the conflict, but a tool to alleviate the suffering of civilians. We try to establish some level of peace and security in the ground. But to drag us in to be part of the conflict is unjustifiable."