PRESS RELEASE

UNAMID MOURNS FALLEN PEACEKEEPERS

El Fasher, 06 April 2011 – UNAMID today paid respects to the memory of a female police advisor who died in an ambush yesterday afternoon in Kutum, North Darfur. The tribute was part of a larger remembrance ceremony as flags of the African Union and United Nations stood at half-mast in honour of more than 40 individuals who lost their lives recently in peacekeeping missions worldwide.

At the Mission’s headquarters in El Fasher, North Darfur, UNAMID Force Commander and acting Head of Mission Lt Gen Patrick Nyamvumba led the somber memorial for those who had fallen in the service of peace. “No more has this loss been felt so much as in this past week,” he said.

In his address, UNAMID Police Commissioner James Oppong-Boanuh recalled the accomplishments of the fallen officer. “She worked to bring safety and hope to the lives of families who have lost homes, loved ones and stability in a vicious conflict,” he said. “For two years, she served Darfur with lessons hard-won from the troubles in her own home country.”

UNAMID Police Commissioner, James Oppong-Boanuh (Ghana), pays his respects. Photo by Albert Gonzalez Farran

The police adviser, a Sierra Leonean national, was killed after an attack by armed men on a patrol. The incident left two others, both female, injured, one of whom has been evacuated to Khartoum for treatment. UNAMID and the Government are working to apprehend the criminals.

Yesterday’s fatality brings to 28 the number of UNAMID blue helmets who lost their lives in the line of duty while serving in Darfur and marks the second time that a female police officer has been killed in action since the Mission’s inception.

The ceremony coincided with a wreath-laying at the United Nations headquarters, led by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, to commemorate the recent tragedies that have affected peacekeepers in Haiti, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and Darfur.

Communication and Public Information Division Media Contacts

Kemal Saïki, Director, saiki@un.org, tel.: +249 (0)92 244 3529, mobile: +249 (0)92 241 0020
Chris Cycmanick, Officer-in-Charge, Media Relations, cycmanick@un.org, mobile: +249 (0)91 253 8436
Mayada Umbadda, Media Relations, umbadda@un.org, mobile: +249 (0)91 250 1966
Guiomar Pau Sole, Media Relations, paug@un.org, mobile: +249 (0)90 0905097