Three UN peacekeepers killed in Darfur

Three international peacekeepers were killed and six wounded late on Monday when their patrol came under attack in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region. The joint UN-African UNAMID patrol was guarding a camp for displaced people.

By News Wires (text)

REUTERS - Three international peacekeepers were killed and six wounded when their patrol came under attack in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, their force said on Tuesday.

Unidentified gunmen attacked the peacekeepers late on Monday in a camp for displaced persons south of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, the UNAMID joint African Union/U.N. mission said in a statement.

Mainly non-Arab rebels took up arms against Sudan's government in 2003, accusing it of marginalising the remote western territory.

Khartoum mobilised troops and mostly-Arab militias to crush the uprising, unleashing a wave of violence that Washington and some activists have called genocide. Khartoum dismisses the accusation.

Fighting has declined since the early days of the conflict but there have been continued clashes between government troops, militias, bandits, tribes and rival rebel factions.

UNAMID did not disclose the nationalities of the killed or wounded peacekeepers. One attacker was also killed, UNAMID said, adding that three peacekeepers were being treated with serious wounds.

In July, Qatar brokered a peace agreement between Sudan and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJR), an umbrella of small rebel groups but the main rebel groups have refused to join the deal.