INFORMATION NOTE

UNAMID Police attacked by gunmen – two seriously wounded

El Fasher, 18 October 2009: On Saturday 17 October at about 1300 hours, unknown gunmen attacked a formed police unit (FPU) escort of the AU-UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) wounding three policemen, two of them critically.

The attack, the second on the Mission in one week, occurred in Zalingei, West Darfur, about five kilometres from the UNAMID base, while the FPU policemen were escorting a UNAMID garbage disposal truck with two other colleagues. The gunmen stole the police vehicle and escaped. A helicopter CASEVAC (casualty evacuation) took the wounded police officers to the UNAMID hospital in Nyala.

UNAMID is investigating the incident.

The Mission reiterates its appeals to the Government to hasten its investigation of these incidents and bring an end to their perpetration.

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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
Noureddine Mezni, Spokesperson; mezni@un.org – mobile: +249 (0) 92 562 9693 -+249 (0) 91 253 8420
Sharon McPherson, Media Relations, McPherson1@un.org –mobile: +249 (0) 92 224 10375 - +249 (0) 92 244 7941