Gambari, UN condemn attack on UN-AU Mission in Darfur

Prof. Ibrahim Gambari
The Joint Special Representative for Darfur

Gambari, UN condemn attack on UN-AU Mission in Darfur

The Joint Special Representative for Darfur, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, has condemned Sunday's attack on the joint UN-AU mission in Darfur.

He said the attack led to the death of one soldier while two others were injured in the latest incident in the Sudanese region.

Reports say that the attack brings to 34 the number of UNAMID (AU-UN Mission in Darfur) personnel killed in hostile action since the mission was deployed nearly four years ago.

A UN Security Council statement quoted Gambari, who is also head of UNAMID, as saying: “I am deeply distressed by and in the strongest terms denounce all violence on our peacekeepers who work relentlessly to bring security and protection to the people of Darfur.”

Call for investigation

Gambari explained that any attack on international peacekeepers was a war crime, and called on the Sudanese authorities to start a full investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice as soon as possible.

The Council President, Jose Cabral of Portugal, also condemned the attack on the UNAMID patrol in Darfur, stressing the need to enforce the law on people who attacked peacekeepers with impunity.

He also called on the Government of Sudan to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Sunday's attack, which was also condemned by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, took place near Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.

It came less than one month after three peacekeepers were killed in an ambush in North Darfur and was the latest in a series of hostile actions directed at UNAMID personnel and aid workers.

NAN/Adekusibe/Ekata