El Fasher, 29 September 2009: The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) strongly condemns the attack on a convoy carrying UNAMID civilian and military personnel by six to eight armed men in El Geneina on the evening of Monday 28 September at around 1845 hours that caused the death of one peacekeeper. The incident took place on the road from UNAMID super camp in El Geneina and the city.

According to initial reports, the men opened fire without warning on the convoy, which comprised 3 vehicles, and stole one of the vehicles. Three military personnel were injured and taken to the El Genenia hospital, and subsequently evacuated by helicopter to the UNAMID hospital in Nyala, more than 300 kilometres from El Geneina. One of the peacekeepers succumbed to his injuries shortly afterwards. A total of 5 UNAMID national and international civilian staff members, 2 non-UNAMID personnel, 13 military troops and 4 military police were involved in the incident.

The Mission is appealing to the Sudanese authorities to speedily investigate this wanton incident to bring the perpetrators to justice.

UNAMID emphasizes that peacekeepers are in Darfur to assist in restoring peace and stability to the region. Any attack on peacekeepers is an attack on peace itself. Targetting UN personnel can potentially have negative consequences for the peace process.

Since the inception of UNAMID in January 2008, fourteen military personnel and three civilian police have been killed as a result of hostile attacks.

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