Two AU soldiers killed near Kourabishi, South Darfur

News from Russia reports two African Union peacekeeping soldiers from Nigeria were killed in an ambush Saturday Oct 8 in Darfur, a senior AU official said, marking the first deaths sustained by the African mission since deploying there last year:

Two civilian contractors attached to the AU peacekeeping team were also killed in the attack that occurred near Kourabishi, a town in South Darfur state, said the AU's acting head of mission, Jean-Baptiste Natama, in a telephone interview.

Three other African Union soldiers were wounded in the attack, Natama said without saying who was behind the ambush or providing further details. The attack occurred while European Union security affairs chief Javier Solana made a brief visit to Darfur.

Note, the report also states Nigerian Maj. Gen. Festus Okonkwo, the commanding officer of the African Union peacekeeping mission, painted a bleak picture for Solana about the conflict and complained that while Canada had shipped 25 armored vehicles, only 12 had been delivered and the rest remain at the dock in the Ivory Coast capital of Dakar.

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa UN African Union Khartoum SPLM John Garang NATO anarchy security peace