SUDAN/FILE: Unidentified gunmen killed five African Union peacekeepers in the Darfur

The five were guarding a water point near the Sudanese border with Chad when they came under fire on Sunday (April 01), the AMIS (African Union Mission in the Sudan) spokesman Noureddine Mezni said. Four soldiers were killed in the shooting and the fifth died later of his wounds. Three gunmen were also killed, he said. The group was attacked by unidentified gunmen in the deadliest single attack against the force since late 2004. The new bloodshed came after the new United Nations humanitarian chief, John Holmes, said during a visit to the region last month that aid efforts in Darfur -- the largest in the world -- could collapse if the situation deteriorates further. The killings bring to 15 the number of African Union personnel killed in Darfur since the troops were deployed in late 2004. A senior Nigerian officer working with the mission has been missing since he was kidnapped in December. The African Union operates an overstitched 7,000-strong force in Darfur. Sudan has rejected the deployment of a larger U.N. force in the region, where violence has persisted despite a 2006 peace agreement between the government and one rebel faction.

ITN Source | April 3, 2007

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