A brazen attack launched yesterday in North Darfur killed seven UNAMID peacekeepers and wounded 22, many of them critically. This is likely to be the largest assault ever on Darfur peacekeepers – a sad display of the deteriorating conditions in the region and the world’s failure to address them.
According to a report by the United Nations, the unidentified militia used heavy weapons and exchanged fire with the UNAMID convoy for more than two hours.
It is a miserable state of affairs that a year after the U.N. Security Council authorized UNAMID, the troops have neither the numbers, the training, nor the equipment to protect themselves, let alone the people of Darfur. Twelve months, and the world’s most powerful nations cannot find it within themselves to produce the political will, a few hundred trucks, or even just 24 helicopters to protect Darfuris who have weathered more than five years of genocide.
What are they waiting for? Are they waiting for the Sudanese government to finish its campaign until there are no more Darfuris left to protect?
The world’s inaction is simply ridiculous. We cannot let the U.N. Security Council authorize a peacekeeping force and then stand idly by as it fails because of they did not provide it with the equipment it needs to succeed.
Save Darfur Coalition president Jerry Fowler responded to this brutal attack earlier today with the following statement:
“The Save Darfur Coalition vehemently condemns yesterday’s brutal attack on the UNAMID civilian protection force between the towns Gusa Jamat and Wadah in North Darfur. The U.N. Security Council must impose consequences on the parties responsible for this act of brutality – which comes just weeks before the one year anniversary of UNAMID’s authorization and violates numerous Security Council resolutions. Additionally, the attack underscores the need for the council to work diligently to ensure the full and rapid deployment of UNAMID – which currently only has one third of its authorized troops on the ground – and the swift delivery of necessary equipment if the force is ever to have the hope of fulfilling its mandate.”
UN peacekeepers caught in deadly Darfur ambush
Photo Credit: AFP
The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Save Darfur Coalition.
