Third Rwandan peacekeeper dies after Darfur ambush

Sat Dec 5, 2009 9:57am GMT

KHARTOUM Dec 5 (Reuters) - A third Rwandan peacekeeper has died of his wounds after gunmen ambushed his platoon close to a market in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region, the UNAMID peacekeeping force said.

Two Rwandan soldiers were shot dead at the scene on Friday, force communications chief Kemal Saiki told Reuters, later updating the report on Saturday to say the third man died soon after. Two other soldiers remain wounded.

The attack was the latest reminder of the vulnerability of the under-equipped joint U.N./African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur, and brings to 20 the number of its personnel killed in violence since it arrived in January last year.

The unidentified attackers opened fire on a platoon of Rwandan soldiers escorting a tanker to a water point on the outskirts of the north Darfur settlement of Saraf Omra at around 4.45pm (1345 GMT) on Friday.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Sudan's government to hunt down the attackers, releasing a statement passing on his condolences to the men's families.

UNAMID said it was still investigating the cause of the attack, but suspected the gunmen may have been trying to steal a vehicle.

Law and order has collapsed more than six years after mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against Sudan's government, accusing it of neglecting the remote western region. (Reporting by Andrew Heavens; editing by David Stamp)



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