Security situation in Darfur, 19 Jan 2010 - UNAMID project adds classrooms in West Darfur

Darfur / UNAMID Daily Media Brief
EL FASHER (DARFUR), Sudan, January 20, 2010/via APO
UNAMID Daily Media Brief / 2010-01-19

Security situation in Darfur

The security situation in Darfur remains relatively calm but unpredictable.

UNAMID military forces conducted 80 patrols including routine, short range, long range, night, and Humanitarian escort patrols, covering 83 villages and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps during the reporting period.

UNAMID police advisors also conducted 94 patrols in villages and IDP camps.

UNAMID JSR a.i. visits peacekeepers, expresses appreciation

Today UNAMID Joint Special Representative (JSR) a.i., Henry K. Anyidoho, visited the villages of Saraf Umra and Shanghil Tobaya where he met with Rwandan contingent peacekeepers and UN Police.

The JSR a.i. expressed his appreciation to all the peacekeepers on the manner in which they have continued to discharge their duties despite the attack on their colleagues in December 2009. He also took note of the surge of new IDPs to Shanghil Tobaya in particular as a result of recent inter-tribal fighting in South Darfur.

Mr. Anyidoho assured the peacekeepers of the support from UNAMID headquarters in improving conditions at the team-site. On the IDPs situation, he indicated that their needs will be conveyed to the humanitarian community.

UNAMID project adds classrooms in West Darfur

Yesterday saw the completion of construction on a UNAMID Quick Impact Project (QIP) to build two classrooms and an office at Abubaker Alsidig Elementary School in El Geneina, West Darfur. The project was funded by the Mission’s Civil Affairs section and was implemented by the school’s Educational Council.

The new classrooms were built to ease overcrowding in the school, which has only six classrooms and nearly 600 students.

UNAMID’s QIPs in West Darfur regularly fund projects that improve the region’s health, education and community development. These QIPs also assist with the return of IDPs to their villages and support community reconciliation initiatives.

SOURCE: United Nations – African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID)

Click on label here below to view previous and latest briefings from UNAMID on the security situation in Darfur, western Sudan.

Memorial for five Rwandan UNAMID peacekeepers killed in North Darfur, western Sudan

Reading and reporting news of the slaying of peacekeepers in Darfur, western Sudan upsets me as much now as it did when the first peacekeeper departed from Sudan in a coffin. Sorry I lost count a few years ago, but I reckon the Sudan peacekeeper death toll might be nearing 80. Watch out when activists and the ICC's chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo target and speak out in the press against Sudan. Very few UN peacekeepers have perished in southern Sudan where every Tom, Dick and Harry carries a loaded gun.



Photo: Memorial service for the five Rwandans killed in North Darfur. (Source: Rob Crilly)

Five Rwandan UNAMID peacekeepers were killed in North Darfur
Report from SRS - Sudan Radio Service , Monday, 7 December 2009:

[El Fashir] – Five Rwandan UNAMID peacekeepers were killed in North Darfur in two separate incidents on Friday and Saturday.

The peacekeepers were distributing water to internally displaced persons.

On Friday, three peacekeepers were shot dead after coming under fire in North Darfur. Their two colleagues were killed on Saturday in a government-controlled area, also in North Darfur.

Ali Hamati, from the UNAMID press office, spoke to SRS from Darfur on Sunday.

[Ali Hamati]: “Unfortunately, the last incident happened on Saturday, just a day after the Friday incident in Saraf Omra. The last incident happened in Shangel Tobaya in North Darfur, and the Rwandan soldiers who belonged to UNAMID were apparently helping to distribute water to the citizens when they were attacked by people dressed in traditional attire and underneath the attire they had guns. Two peacekeepers working with UNAMID from Rwanda died on the spot and another, who was wounded in the attack, died later on.”

The governor of North Darfur, Mohamed Osman Kibir, announced on Saturday that the men behind the attacks had been arrested and had been transferred to El-Fashir.

On Sunday, the Rwandan government accused the government of Sudan of being behind the attacks.

+ + + Rest In Peace + + +

UN report from NEW YORK, December 9, 2009/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Statement Attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General - excerpt:

The Secretary-General reiterates the commitment of the AU-UN mission to carry out its important work in Darfur. He notes the Government of Sudan’s rapid action to apprehend the alleged perpetrators and renews his call that those guilty of these cowardly attacks should be brought to justice immediately.

The Secretary-General expresses his condolences to the families of the peacekeepers who lost their lives and to the Government of Rwanda and reiterates his appreciation for their service and commitment to the search for peace in Darfur.

- - -

Postscript
Any attack on peacekeepers constitutes a war crime. For more details, click on Haskanita label here below.



Archived photo: An African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) peacekeeper looks out over North Darfur, western Sudan. (AFP/AMIS/File/Stuart Price)



Photo: UNAMID peacekeepers patrol in North Darfur, 12 October 2009. (UN Photo/Olivier Chassot)

Ex Darfur rebels detain men over peacekeeper killing

Reuters South Africa - ‎Dec 8, 2009‎

Two Rwandan members of the joint UN/African Union UNAMID peacekeeping mission inSudan's Darfur region were shot dead as they distributed water in a refugee ...

Sudan gov't condemns killing of five UNAMID peacekeepers Xinhua

Sudan Arrests Suspects in Attack on Rwandan Peacekeepers in Darfur Voice of America

Three Rwandan peacekeepers killed in Sudan's Darfur BBC News

The Punch - AllAfrica.comall 316 news articles »



ICC Prosecutor Briefs Media on Sudan

See UN News Centre report Darfur crimes continue and Sudan still not cooperating with ICC – Prosecutor (also UN webcast Security Council meeting - 4 Dec. '09)



Photo: Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), speaks to reporters following his briefing to the Security Council on the situation in Sudan, 04 December 2009, United Nations, New York. (UN)

UNAMID: 2 Rwandan peacekeepers killed, 3 wounded in Saraf Umra, North Darfur, western Sudan

Two Rwandan peacekeepers have been killed and three seriously wounded in Sudan's Darfur region, the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force says.

A spokesman for Unamid said gunmen had fired on 20 peacekeepers escorting a water tanker near houses and a market.

Unamid spokesman Kemal Saiki told reporters the group of Rwandan peacekeepers had been ambushed by unknown armed men.

The peacekeepers had returned fire on their attackers as they fled but had been careful to avoid civilian casualties, he said.

The attack took place about 2km (1.24 miles) from a Unamid base in the village of Saraf Omra, near a Sudanese government checkpoint.

As of late October, Unamid had just over 19,000 uniformed personnel on the ground in Darfur.

Full story: BBC at 21:04 GMT, Friday, 4 December 2009.

Two Rwandan Peacekeepers Killed In Darfur Ambush

New York Times - Andrew Heavens, Patrick Worsnip - ‎3 minutes ago‎

Two UN peacekeepers killed in attack in Sudan's Darfur region UN News Centre

Two Rwandan peacekeepers killed in Darfur-UN Reuters AlertNet

AFP

all 12 news articles »