Gunmen kill three Ethiopian peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur
Thu Oct 16, 2014 6:54pm GMT
KHARTOUM Oct 16 (Reuters) - Gunmen killed three Ethiopian peacekeepers who
were guarding a water hole in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region on Thursday,
their force said.
Two of the soldiers died at the scene in Korma, north Darfur, and a third
died later from his wounds in Khartoum, said the joint U.N./African Union
UNAMID peacekeeping mission. The attackers stole the Ethiopians' patrol
vehicle, it added.
A total of 61 UNAMID peacekeeopers have now been killed in action since
their force was set up in 2007.
Darfur was plunged into turmoil in 2003 when mostly non-Arab rebels took up
arms against the government, accusing it of neglecting the arid region, and
Khartoum mobilised mostly Arab militias to crush the uprising.
The situation has since subsided into chaos with skirmishes involving
bandits, rival insurgent splinter groups, warring tribes and lawless
militias.
UNAMID's join U.N./African Union Special Representative Abidoun Bashua
called on Khartoum to bring Thursday's attackers to justice.
"An attack on peacekeepers constitutes a war crime and is punishable under
international criminal law," Bashua said. (Reporting By Khalid Abdelaziz;
Writing by Shadi Bushra; Editing by Andrew Heavens)