Gunmen kill AU peacekeeper in Darfur's Kassab refugee camp, N Darfur

Barbarians. AP report (via IHT) Feb 1, 2007 - excerpt:

Gunmen shot dead an African Union peacekeeper as he was driving through a Darfur refugee camp on Thursday, the peacekeeping force said in a statement.

"We deeply condemn this attack against our force, who came to protect the people of Darfur," AU spokesman Noureddine Mezni said.

In New York, the United Nations said it too condemned the attack and was "particularly alarmed at the fact that the killing happened inside an Internally Displaced People's camp."

The AU said unidentified gunmen ambushed three peacekeepers as they were patrolling in a car. The gunmen killed the one peacekeeper, a police officer of the unarmed Civpol unit, and hijacked the car.

The other two peacekeepers were not wounded, but the AU statement did not explain how they managed to escape injury.

The victim, whose name and nationality were withheld pending notification of his family, was the 11th peacekeeper to be killed in action since the AU force deployed in Darfur in June 2004.

Located next to the town of Kutum, Kassab lies in one of Darfur's most violent areas where rebels, soldiers and members of the pro-government janjaweed militia have clashed repeatedly in recent months.