UN-African Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Commander Gen. Martin Luther Agwai said here Wednesday the UNAMID had only defensive, rather than offensive, equipment. Gen. Agwai was speaking to Sudanese military service commanders in Khartoum. Accompanied by the UNAMID police chief, Gen. Agwai held a significant meeting with Sudanese military, police and security chiefs on the military and police components of the UNAMID, according to a UNAMID release.
The UNAMID is expected to raise the number of its troops and policemen up to 20,000 and 6,000 respectively, he said.
| [The UNAMID chief listed the] four stages of hybrid peacekeepers in Darfur as transition, stabilization, reinforcement and troop reduction |
During the meeting, the UNAMID chief also elaborated the equipment, structure, operations and deployment of his forces, the release said. The UNAMID will use its equipment in defensive, rather than offensive, equipment, he said, listing four stages of hybrid peacekeepers in Darfur as transition, stabilization, reinforcement and troop reduction.| Translated into UN-ese, the four stages are hand-wringing, deploring, finger-pointing, and afternoon tea with extra clotted cream. |
Having taken over the peacekeeping mission in Darfur from African Union forces early this year in line with the UN Security Council Resolution 1679, UNAMID is being deployed to try to quell nearly five years of violent clashes between rebels, government forces and allied militia known as the Janjaweed. |