REFILING: 7 U.N.-AU peacekeepers killed in Darfur attack

0 Comments | Asian Political News, July 14, 2008

NEW YORK, July 9 Kyodo

(EDS: FIXING TITLE OF MONTAS IN 2ND GRAF)

Seven peacekeepers from a joint U.N.-African Union force were killed and 22 wounded in an ambush by unidentified militia in Sudan's Darfur region on Tuesday, the United Nations said Wednesday.

Using heavy weapons, the militia attacked the peacekeepers of the U.N.-AU Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) joint police and military patrol at 2:45 p.m. local time between Gusa Jamat and Wadah, 100 kilometers east of Shangil Tobayi, northern Darfur, U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said in a statement.

An exchange of fire lasted for more than two hours and seven of the wounded were in critical condition, Montas said.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon ''condemns in the strongest possible terms this unacceptable act of extreme violence against AU-U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur and calls on the government of Sudan to do its utmost to ensure that the perpetrators are swiftly identified and brought to justice,'' said the spokeswoman.

The U.N. chief ''calls on all parties to respect their agreements, to redouble their efforts to ensure the safety and integrity of the peacekeeping force and reach a comprehensive settlement to the crisis in Darfur as soon as possible,'' she added.

According to the Associated Press, five Rwandan soldiers and two police officers, one from Ghana, the other from Uganda, were killed.

The attackers, a group of about 200 riding horses and driving vehicles mounted with anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons, exchanged gunfire for more than two hours with the peacekeeping force that included 61 Rwandan soldiers, AP said.