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| Africa Horn |
| Govt Link Denied in Attack on Darfur Peacekeepers |
| 2013-04-23 |
| [An Nahar] A deadly attack on peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur region appears to have been planned and carried out by government-linked forces, local sources in the area said on Monday, but authorities denied such a connection. One Nigerian Blue Helmet was killed and two other peacekeepers were maimed in Friday's assault against a base of the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... -U.N. Mission (UNAMID) near Muhagiriya town in southern Darfur. Two days earlier the Sudanese army announced it had regained control of the area from rebels. The attack "looks like it was planned and conducted by forces aligned with the government," one source said, asking for anonymity. Local sources said peacekeepers returned fire, killing at least one of the attackers. Sudan's foreign ministry said on Monday that investigation confirmed "the one who did the attack and who was killed during the operation has no link with SAF troops and the incident happened before SAF troops completed their control of the area". The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) front man announced last Wednesday that troops had "liberated" Muhagiriya but rebels of the Sudan Liberation Army's Minnawi faction said they withdrew in the face of massive force. UNAMID said its base was attacked by person or persons unknown early Friday. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is deeply sorry and condemns the killing of a peacekeeper in Muhagiriya," it said in a statement which expressed condolences to relatives of the dead peacekeeper. It said a joint investigation is underway, supported by the army and local authorities. "The SAF was performing its role of protecting civilians and their properties," the ministry added. On Sunday the U.S. charge d'affaires to Sudan, Joseph Stafford, expressed grave concern "about the reports of civilian casualties and deliberate targeting of civilians by militias in Muhagiriya and Labado", a second town retaken by government forces. |
| Posted by:Fred |