4 December 2009 – Two Rwandan peacekeepers from the joint African Union-United Nations mission in Darfur (UNAMID) were killed and others wounded today in an attack by unidentified gunmen while collecting water at the north of the strife-torn Sudanese region.

The dead and wounded were evacuated to El Fasher.

The attack, which occurred in Saraf Umra in North Darfur, brought to 17 the number of UNAMID armed personnel killed in a hostile confrontation since the mission deployed at the start of 2008.

In his latest report on UNAMID last month, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said increased threats to international staff, including “extremely alarming” kidnappings, military action by Chad, Sudan and rebels, and Government limits on peacekeepers’ movements continued to hamper efforts to stabilize the Sudanese area torn apart by nearly seven years of war.

Almost two years after being set up, UNAMID has still only reached 69 per cent of its authorized troop strength – 14,638 military personnel out of the total 19,555, and 4,449 police – and still lacks key military elements, including two medium transport units, a level II hospital, an aerial reconnaissance unit, and 18 medium utility helicopters.