Four Unamid peacekeepers die, one injured in separate Darfur attacks

(Updated 11pm) Four Unamid personnel have been killed and another injured in two separate attacks in Darfur. Three Senegalese peacekeepers were killed and one injured on Sunday morning when a Unamid Formed Police Unit detail escorting a water convoy from El Geneina town to the Unamid regional headquarters in West Darfur was ambushed by an unidentified armed group. The assailants hijacked one vehicle, which was later recovered 7km from the scene. The incident occurred on the same road where a Unamid patrol was ambushed in October last year. On Friday, a Unamid military observer from Zambia died in an attack by armed men in El Fasher, North Darfur. The men stabbed him and hijacked his vehicle. The incident occurred in the afternoon when the Officer was parking a Mission vehicle at his private accommodation. The victim was immediately transferred to a Unamid medical facility where he died later the same day. In a statement, Unamid Joint Special Representative Mohamed Ibn Chambas said: “I condemn in the strongest terms this criminal and ruthless act. An attack on a peacekeeper is a war crime. Unamid personnel are here in the service of peace and to protect the people of Darfur. “I call on the Government of Sudan to do its utmost to apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to justice. We affirm our usual readiness to closely cooperate with the relevant authorities to make that happen,” he added. In separate statements, Chambas extended the Mission’s deepest condolences to the family and friends of the late peacekeepers, and to the Governments of Senegal and the Republic of Zambia, and commended the sacrifices that Unamid peacekeepers make in their constant effort to bring peace to Darfur Chambas said he is deeply saddened by the death of the peacekeepers. He commended the Sudanese uniformed services for actively pursuing the assailants and engaging them in a firefight, which reportedly led to casualties on both sides. “Such incidents are a reminder to all of us of the great price everyone pays in the absence of peace. Our peacekeepers have made the ultimate sacrifice while attempting to bring peace to Darfur,” he stated. Photo: 14 July 2013 – Unamid peacekeepers ‘rest on arms reversed’ in salute. The bodies of their seven fallen comrades killed in an ambush were then loaded to be repatriated to Tanzania. (Albert González Farran/Unamid)  Related:Darfuris criticise Unamid’s ‘weak mandate’ (18 September 2013) ‘Tanzanian peacekeepers killed by Sudan government militia’: witnesses (17 July 2013) Seven Unamid peacekeepers killed, 17 injured in South Darfur ambush (13 July 2013)