Another peacekeeper killed, others wounded in ambush in Darfur

 The  UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) says one peacekeeper has been killed and three others wounded in an ambush in the West Sudanese region of Darfur.

The UN Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this is the second of such deadly attack on the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) within two weeks.

Four Nigerian UNAMID peacekeepers were killed and eight wounded at the beginning of the month in an ambush near a regional Mission headquarters in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state.

UNAMID, on Wednesday in a statement at the UN Headquarters in New York, said that a Mission convoy of military, police and civilian personnel came under a combination of automatic and mortar fire from unidentified assailants.

It stated that the convoy was on its way to the town of Hashaba North, 56 kilometres northeast of Kutum, from the town of Kutum to assess the situation following recent reports of violence in that area.

It also noted that the convoy returned fire but did not indicate the impact of the fire.

The statement quoted UNAMID’s Acting Joint Special Representative and Joint Chief Mediator ad interim, Aïchatou Mindaoudou as saying: “these attacks will not shake our resolve to fulfill our mandate and help the people of Darfur.

“I call on the Government of Sudan to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice,”

UNAMID is entrusted with protecting civilians, promoting an inclusive peace process and helping ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian aid across Darfur, the scene of fighting between Sudanese government troops and their allied militias and rebels since 2003.

 Since its initial deployment at the start of 2008, 43 peacekeepers have been killed by hostile action