UN ‘outrage’ at attack on Unamid patrol in South Darfur
The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed “outrage” at an ambush in South Darfur on Saturday morning, that left seven Tanzanian peacekeepers dead and 17 other injured.However Unamid has said that it will not allow the deadly attacks on its peacekeepers to deter it from its mission.Speaking to Radio Dabanga from Khartoum, Unamid spokesman Chris Cycmanick said that “at this time, we are still not certain exactly which group carried out the attack.”What Cycmanick could confirm is that the ambush occurred about 25 kilometres west of the Mission’s Khor Abeche base. “The Unamid patrol was a relatively small one. It was ambushed by a large group, so we were completely outnumbered. We came under heavy fire from machine guns and possibly from rocket-propelled grenades.”The beleaguered patrol was extracted by reinforcements sent from Unamid’s Khor Abeche and Manawashi sites. “The seven dead are from Tanzania,” said Cycmanick. “The 17 injured peacekeepers are at our hospital in Nyala. We are not reporting on their nationalities or the extent of their injuries until we have contacted their countries’ missions in New York so that their families can be notified.”The Secretary-General expressed his sympathies “to the families of the fallen peacekeepers, the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania and to all Unamid personnel”. Ban Ki-moon also said that he “expects that the Government of Sudan will take swift action to bring the perpetrators to justice”.Joint Special Representative Mohamed Ibn Chambas visited the wounded peacekeepers at Unamid’s hospital in Nyala to provide encouragement and support.Cycmanick: “Unamid will not allow the attacks of the past weeks to deter it from its mission in Darfur. We will of course work with the authorities and try to find out who was behind this. Our work will continue and we will continue with patrols, assist with humanitarian aid and push the peace process forward.“Whenever we have an incident like this, we count on the local authorities to assist us with the investigation. Ultimately it’s the responsibility of the government to arrest and apprehend these people and make sure that they are prosecuted. Any time something like this happens, we must work with all parties, and that includes the government, of course.”Cycmanick explains that the injured are in good hands at Unamid’s level-three hospital facility. “We are capable of handling trauma patients and do fairly extensive surgery. If it is more severe, we can medevac a patient to a higher level facility, but all 17 injured from Saturday’s incident are currently being treated in Nyala,” he concluded.News photo: The shock of their ordeal is clearly refelcted in the eyes of some of the injured peacekeepers at Unamid hospital in Nyala (by Albert González Farran/UNAMID)Seven Unamid peacekeepers killed, 17 injured in South Darfur ambush (14 July 2013)
The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed “outrage” at an ambush in South Darfur on Saturday morning, that left seven Tanzanian peacekeepers dead and 17 other injured.
However Unamid has said that it will not allow the deadly attacks on its peacekeepers to deter it from its mission.
Speaking to Radio Dabanga from Khartoum, Unamid spokesman Chris Cycmanick said that “at this time, we are still not certain exactly which group carried out the attack.”
What Cycmanick could confirm is that the ambush occurred about 25 kilometres west of the Mission’s Khor Abeche base. “The Unamid patrol was a relatively small one. It was ambushed by a large group, so we were completely outnumbered. We came under heavy fire from machine guns and possibly from rocket-propelled grenades.”
The beleaguered patrol was extracted by reinforcements sent from Unamid’s Khor Abeche and Manawashi sites. “The seven dead are from Tanzania,” said Cycmanick. “The 17 injured peacekeepers are at our hospital in Nyala. We are not reporting on their nationalities or the extent of their injuries until we have contacted their countries’ missions in New York so that their families can be notified.”
The Secretary-General expressed his sympathies “to the families of the fallen peacekeepers, the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania and to all Unamid personnel”. Ban Ki-moon also said that he “expects that the Government of Sudan will take swift action to bring the perpetrators to justice”.
Joint Special Representative Mohamed Ibn Chambas visited the wounded peacekeepers at Unamid’s hospital in Nyala to provide encouragement and support.
Cycmanick: “Unamid will not allow the attacks of the past weeks to deter it from its mission in Darfur. We will of course work with the authorities and try to find out who was behind this. Our work will continue and we will continue with patrols, assist with humanitarian aid and push the peace process forward.
“Whenever we have an incident like this, we count on the local authorities to assist us with the investigation. Ultimately it’s the responsibility of the government to arrest and apprehend these people and make sure that they are prosecuted. Any time something like this happens, we must work with all parties, and that includes the government, of course.”
Cycmanick explains that the injured are in good hands at Unamid’s level-three hospital facility. “We are capable of handling trauma patients and do fairly extensive surgery. If it is more severe, we can medevac a patient to a higher level facility, but all 17 injured from Saturday’s incident are currently being treated in Nyala,” he concluded.
News photo: The shock of their ordeal is clearly refelcted in the eyes of some of the injured peacekeepers at Unamid hospital in Nyala (by Albert González Farran/UNAMID)
Seven Unamid peacekeepers killed, 17 injured in South Darfur ambush (14 July 2013)
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