El Fasher, 13 October 2009: During the evening of Monday 12 October, unknown gunmen opened fire on a military officer of the AU-UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) while he was on guard duty in Kutum in North Darfur, about 100 kilometres from El Fasher.

Due to the attack, which occurred at about 2145 hours at the water point about 1.5 kilometres northeast of the Kutum team site, the peacekeeper suffered injuries to his upper arm. The attackers had already escaped by the time the UNAMID quick reaction force, along with 50 soldiers from the Sudanese Armed Forces and the head of the National Intelligence and Security Services in Kutum, arrived on the scene.

The officer was evacuated to the UNAMID hospital in Kutum and later to El Fasher where his condition is currently reported to be stable.

UNAMID expresses its deep concern about this incident, which is yet another violent attack on UNAMID personnel who are in Darfur to protect civilians and assist in pushing the peace process forward. At this time, the Mission further expresses its readiness to thwart any attempts to attack its locations in Darfur.

UNAMID is also appealing to the Sudanese authorities to speedily investigate the continuing violent attacks against UNAMID civilian and military personnel to bring an end to the perpetration of such incidents.

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