SUDAN:Up to 60 heavily armed men on horseback ambushed a patrol of peacekeepers in Darfur, in a new attack on international forces in Sudan's strife-torn west, the United Nations said yesterday.
The raiders, wearing uniforms and armed with AK47 rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, took weapons from the Nigerian troops from the joint UN/African Union Mission in Darfur (Unamid), an official added.
The attack, which took place on Wednesday, was at least the fifth serious confrontation between armed groups and Unamid troops since they took over from a beleaguered African Union force at the beginning of the year.
Irish troops in neighbouring Chad were not placed at any risk as a result, according to a spokesman for the defence forces. Comdt Feargal Purcell said that, while any such incident would be monitored by military analysts, there was a significant distance between the Irish troops and the Nigerian peacekeepers who were attacked close to the capital of West Darfur, El Geneina.
Unamid spokesman Noureddine Mezni said the force had decided not to release details immediately as they were still trying to identify the attackers.
"We are a peacekeeping organisation but there is no peace on the ground to keep. We are appealing for the co-operation of all sides in this conflict. We are here to help."
Mr Mezn said it was unclear how the attackers had taken the Unamid light weapons. "But the peacekeepers were outnumbered . . . No shots were fired and no one was injured."
The UN has warned the peacekeeping force remains seriously undermanned - with only 9,000 out of a promised 26,000 soldiers - and poorly equipped. The force was sent to keep the peace in a remote region about the size of France.
Law and order has collapsed in Darfur, where international experts say five years of conflict has killed 200,000 and driven 2.5 million from their homes. Khartoum puts the death count at 10,000 and accuses western media of exaggerating the conflict.
Nigeria, the country that has contributed the most soldiers to the current force, has borne the brunt of some of the worst violence against peacekeepers in the region. At least 12 soldiers were killed after armed raiders, thought to belong to a splinter rebel faction, attacked a Nigerian-manned base in the eastern Darfur town of Haskanita in September. -(Reuters, additional reporting John Downes)