Four African Union troops, workers killed in Darfur

By Opheera McDoom

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Two African Union peacekeepers and two
civilian contractors were killed in an ambush in Sudan’s
troubled Darfur region on Saturday, the AU’s first casualties
of the conflict, the acting head of the mission said on
Saturday.

“Two of our military were killed and three AU military were
wounded, and two civilian personnel were killed,” Jean Baptiste
Natama, acting head of the AU mission in Sudan told Reuters,
adding the ambush took place in South Darfur state.

“We are investigating, but it is serious being the first
time our personnel are killed in Sudan,” Natama said, adding
there were no details on who was behind the attack.

About 6,000 AU troops are deployed to monitor a shaky
ceasefire in the region but violence has escalated in recent
weeks, prompting the AU last week to voice its harshest public
criticism of Darfur rebels and the Sudanese government.

A senior AU official accused all sides of ignoring all
deals signed so far and said the government had used
disproportionate force targeting civilians in the remote
region, where more than 2 million have fled their homes and
live in wretched camps.

Sudan’s state minister for foreign affairs, Samani Wasiyla,
told Reuters he did not know who was responsible for the ambush
but that it was definitely not government troops.

“It is unfortunate that there has been casualties,” he
said. “I want to assure all that the government is committed to
seeing that the mission of the African Union forces succeeds.”

EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, told reporters in
Khartoum on Saturday the government was responsible for
protecting AU troops in Darfur. The EU is one of the largest
funders of the AU mission in Darfur.

“There is a responsibility also of the government of Sudan
to guarantee that the AU has the appropriate protection so that
they can produce results in their mission,” Solana said after a
brief visit to Darfur.

“Their mission is a mission of peace, not of war but of
peace.”

The ambush of the AU patrol on Saturday happened near Khor
Abeche, where Arab militias wiped out a rebel base earlier this
year. South Darfur was the scene of a rebel attack on a
government garrison last month, which sparked a wave of
tit-for-tat violence.

A sixth round of peace talks began last month to try to end
the revolt that has killed tens of thousands in Sudan’s remote
west. Non-Arab rebels accuse the central government of neglect
and of monopolizing wealth and power.